Armistice Day: Trump Blasts Macron hours before Paris meeting


[ad_1]

Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron wave for the camera outside the Elysee Palace in Paris on November 10, 2018.

Image copyright
EPA

Image caption

Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron are meeting for bilateral talks in Paris

President Donald Trump has left his home counterpart Emmanuel Macron, after arriving in Paris to commemorate the end of World War One.

On Twitter, Mr Trump said it was "very insulting" that he had called for a joint US, China and Russia.

Mr Macron said on Tuesday that Europe "had to protect itself".

The two men will meet for scheduled talks on Saturday the morning of the war commemorating the 1914-18 war.

Around 70 world leaders are gathering in Paris for events marking the Armistice that ended World War One, which was signed 100 years ago this Sunday.

What did Macron say?

President Macron has previously warned that Europeans can no longer rely on the US to defend them, and returned to the theme on Tuesday during a visit to the Western Front in Verdun.

  • May country respects to WW1 fallen in France and Belgium

"We have to protect ourselves with respect to China, Russia and the United States of America," he told French radio station Europe 1.

Who is the main victim? Europe and its security. on the United States. "

Russia's President Vladimir Putin will be among the world leaders marking the Armistice in Paris.

President Trump 's Friday night rebuke reads: "President Macron of France has just suggested that Europe build its own military in order to protect itself from the US, China and Russia. the US subsidizes greatly! "

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionThe ups and downs of Trump and Macron

Mr Macron has already made a considerable contribution to Nato targets.

  • What does the US contribute to Nato?

He is also overseeing the formation of a European rapid reaction force, a nine-country endeavor much smaller than an actual army, which is backed by Germany and the UK.

What's the weekend line-up?

Trump and Macron are slated to hold talks on issues including Yemen, Syria, and Iran, before their wives Melania and Brigitte join them for lunch.

On Saturday afternoon, Mr Macron will meet Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel in the town of Compiegne in northern France, where the Allies and Germany signed the Armistice.

Visiting heads of state will gather for a dinner in Paris in the evening.

Donald Trump is expected to visit two American cemeteries over the weekend, ahead of a dark commemoration at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a memorial to France's fallen under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Tweeting early on Saturday morning, he remarked: "Is there anything better than the end of a war, in which one, which one of the bloodiest and worst of all time?"

Sunday afternoon will see Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel waiting for a peace conference – the Paris Peace Forum – with leaders including Mr Putin and Turkey 's Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mr Trump is not attending, however, which his National Security Advisor John Bolton put down to a diary full of "pressing issues".

The Armistice 100 years on

Image copyright
AFP

Long read: The forgotten female soldier on the frontline

Video: War footage brought alive in color

Interactive: What would you have done between 1914 and 1918?

Living history: Why 'indecent' Armistice Day parties ended

Will Trump meet Putin?

The status of this meeting is changing repeatedly in recent weeks.

On Wednesday the Kremlin said the pair would hold a "short working lunch" at the Elysee Palace in Paris, but the US contradicted that same day.

"I do not think we have anything scheduled in Paris and I'm coming back very quickly," the president said. "I do not think we're going to meet that."

The two men may meet at a luncheon for world leaders on Sunday, but it remains to be discussed.

[ad_2]Source link