Emmanuel Macron makes his point to Joe Biden in Paris. Photo: Blonde Eliot/ABACA/Shutterstock
Emmanuel Macron said the West cannot adhere to “double standards” regarding the conflicts in the Gaza Strip and Ukraine, as he hosted Joe Biden in Paris.
The President France spoke alongside his American counterpart at a news conference and drew parallels between the conflicts and Western efforts to end them. them.
He said that while the United States and France are “unified in their views” on Ukraine, their “respect for international law… extends to other crises.”
«There should be no double standards, and although there are many crises around the world, we are still applying the same principles with the same determination in Gaza,» he said.
Mr Biden is with a rare foreign visit during the 2024 election campaign. and was hosted by Mr Macron at a state dinner at the Elysee Palace on Saturday evening.
Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron pose before the official state dinner with Joe and Jill Biden as part of the US President's state visit to France 
Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife of Carl Bruni 
Brigitte Macron welcomes Jill Biden at the Elysee Palace in Paris
He spent two days in northern France celebrating his 80th birthday D-Day, including an international ceremony which Rishi Sunak controversially did not attend.
However Mr Sunak will meet the pair next week at the G7 summit in Puglia, southern Italy, where Macron has said he hopes to reach agreement on a new €50bn (£42bn) «Solidarity Fund» for Ukraine.< /p>
The next major meeting will take place at the NATO Leaders' Summit in Washington DC on July 9, which will be attended by the British party leader who wins the general election five days earlier.
Mr Biden welcomed news of the rescue of four hostages in Israel, telling reporters: “We will not stop working until all the hostages have returned home and a ceasefire has been reached. This must be done.»
Mr Macron called for an immediate end to Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, which began following the Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7.
«After nine months of conflict, the situation in Rafah and the human consequences are unacceptable,” he said.
“It is unacceptable that Israel does not open all crossings for humanitarian aid, as the international community has demanded for months. Israeli operations must cease here.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his wife Evan Ryan Photo: AFP 
Former tennis player John McEnroe and singer-songwriter Patti Smith. Photo: REUTERS 
Helen Lasichanh and Pharrell Williams arrived for dinner. Photo: Shutterstock
Mr Biden was greeted in Paris with a parade from the Arc de Triomphe along the Champs Elysees to the Elysee Palace.
He met with veterans and watched bagpipers and horse cavalry march towards the palace.
It's unusual for an American leader to spend so much time outside the country in the months leading up to a presidential election, although Biden used the trip to make coded references to Donald Trump, his Republican rival.
On Friday, he gave a speech in Pointe du Hoc, the site of the D-Day landings of American troops, and warned of the threat of authoritarianism abroad and in the United States.
His approach is very harsh. In contrast, Mr Sunak attended D-Day celebrations on Thursday morning but left Lord Cameron, the foreign secretary, to stand in for him at the main event on Omaha beach in the afternoon.
None of them leaders did not do this. Referring to Mr Sunak's absence on Saturday, Mr Macron told Mr Biden: «Our veterans and the veterans of all allies were honored by your presence and the presence of other leaders on June 6.»
Mr. Biden responded by saying that France was “America's oldest ally” and that U.S. independence “would not have been possible” without French help in its war against Britain.
“We are a nation largely thanks to France. [because] you stepped up when we needed help, and you did,” he said.
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