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Pompeo arrived in Paris on Saturday to embark on a tour of seven US allies.
The head of US diplomacy has been criticized for supporting President Trump in making unsubstantiated allegations of rigged elections.
“There will be a smooth transition to the second Trump administration,” Pompeo told reporters last week when he announced his upcoming trip.
Still, world leaders have made clear what they see as an election winner. Macron was one of the first leaders to congratulate Biden on his victory and speak with him on the phone.
Pompeo was critical of those contacts with Biden. The secretary of state told Fox News television that calls to Biden would be acceptable if they were made “just to say hi.”
“But don’t be fooled, we have a president, a secretary of state and a single national security team,” he said.
The French president’s advisers stressed that Pompeo had sought a meeting with Macron and that the consent had been given “in full transparency with the team of President-elect Joe Biden.”
The difficult situation is reflected in the fact that no press conferences have been scheduled following the talks between Mr. Pompeo and Mr. Macrono, as well as a separate meeting between the Secretary of State and the French Foreign Minister Jean- Yves Le Drian.
A senior State Department official, when asked by reporters if Pompeo would assure the Allies that Trump would remain in power, said the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had a “broad strategy” to pursue the interests of United States and “the state remains Secretary.”
Ongoing disagreements
Macron, unlike other European Union leaders, took immediate steps to establish close ties with Trump when he was elected president four years ago. In July 2017, the Republican attended Bastille Day celebrations in Paris as a guest of honor, and on his eve, the presidents enjoyed dinner with their spouses at a Michelin-starred restaurant on the Eiffel Tower.
But analysts say the French leader’s efforts have been unsuccessful. Trump pulled the United States out of the 2017 Paris Climate Agreement and the two leaders also disagree on taxes on Iran, the giants of trade and technology.
“The strong ties between our countries cannot be overstated and I look forward to the discussions in Paris,” Pompeo said.
However, there are a number of reasons for the friction.
JY Le Drian said on Friday that in a meeting with Pompeo, he would express a number of concerns about France, which had survived a jihadist attack, about Trump’s plans to accelerate the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“We don’t think that should happen,” the minister said in a television interview.
EU leaders, for their part, continue to try to salvage the hard-won international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, from which Trump unilaterally withdrew.
A senior Trump administration official told reporters that Washington’s policy of “maximum pressure” on its former opponent, Iran, “will continue in the coming months.”
Farewell trip?
The visit has indications of a farewell trip, although it is by no means said. During the weekend, Pompeo had no official meetings in Paris and spent it with his wife, Susan.
On Monday morning, he was due to pay tribute to the victims of recent terrorist attacks in France, including teacher Samuel Paty, who was beheaded due to cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad shown to students, and three people who were fatally injured by a knife in a church in Nice.
From Paris, Pompeo will travel to Istanbul, where his trip also causes friction.
The only US Secretary of State meeting in Istanbul to be announced is a discussion on religious freedom with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the world’s Orthodox spiritual leader. Freedom of religion is an important issue for evangelist N. Pompeo.
In Jerusalem, he will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyah, a close associate of Trump, who has already congratulated Biden.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and the Axios news site, Pompeo will be the first US secretary of state to visit one of the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. These settlements are considered illegal by practically all other countries.
Pompeo will also visit Israel’s annexed Golan Heights in recognition of its annexation by Trump.
The Secretary of State will also travel to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Sacartwell.
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