Rubio to attend Paris G-7 talks next week after US midterms setback

• Marco Rubio will visit Paris for G-7 talks on Nov 8 to Nov 10, his first trip abroad since Republicans' midterm losses.
• The ministers will discuss support for Ukraine and efforts to stabilise the Middle East, with Russia-Ukraine talks also due in Abu Dhabi.
• The meeting was moved from Marseille to Paris for logistical reasons, while Rubio faces speculation about his future and says he will stay with Trump until the end of the term.

WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will head to France next week for a gathering of G-7 foreign ministers, the State Department said on Nov 6, as pressure mounts over wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.

This marks Rubio’s first trip abroad since the Republican Party’s sweeping losses in US midterm elections, dealing a sharp blow to President Donald Trump as Democrats won full control of Congress.

While the election’s impact on US foreign policy remains to be seen, the G-7 meeting on Nov 9 and Nov 10 will offer Washington’s allies an early opportunity to gauge the Trump administration’s thinking.

The US top diplomat’s travel to Paris from Nov 8 to Nov 10 will see him “advance American interests in engagements with his G-7 counterparts,” said the State Department in a brief statement.

The talks among the Group of Seven advanced economies – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States – were originally meant to be held in Marseille.

But they were moved to the capital at the last minute.

France’s foreign ministry said this was due to logistical reasons, although the shift comes amid weeks of nationwide cost-of-living protests – developments that have been viewed with concern in the United States.

During their two-day gathering, G-7 foreign ministers are set to discuss support for Ukraine as it battles Moscow’s invasion, alongside efforts to stabilise the Middle East, which has been engulfed in war since US-Israel strikes targeting Iran in February.

The meeting also comes as Russia-Ukraine negotiations, under US mediation, have been scheduled for Nov 10 to Nov 11 in Abu Dhabi.

On Nov 5, Trump predicted an imminent deal with Russia covering Ukraine and “all of Europe.”

Jared Kushner, the president’s envoy and son-in-law, said in an X post Nov 5 that Trump has advanced talks with European leaders “about the need for a broader European security architecture that can help establish the conditions for lasting peace.”

Washington’s European allies, however, have long rejected Moscow’s desire to rewrite the European security architecture.

Next week’s foreign ministers meeting brings together officials from the G-7 and partner countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Korea, Brazil and Ukraine.

France’s G-7 presidency concludes at year-end, with Washington set to next take over the reins.

Rubio’s trip also comes amid speculation about his political future.

He is widely viewed as a potential successor to Trump in the 2028 US presidential election.

But Rubio has dismissed reports that he was planning to leave, telling The New York Times on Nov 5 that it has “always been my plan” to work for Trump until the end of his term. AFP