French President Emmanuel Macron began a three-day state visit to Britain on Tuesday, which will see him address parliament and try to rekindle a purportedly warm relationship with King Charles III.

Macron and his wife Brigitte were greeted off the presidential plane at an air base northwest of London by heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales.

Macron hailed an "important moment for our two nations" on X.

"Together, we will address the major challenges of our time: security, defence, nuclear energy, space, innovation, artificial intelligence, migration, and culture," he posted, vowing to "deepen our cooperation in a concrete, effective, and lasting way".

The French leader will hold several meetings with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who promised to reset relations with European capitals when he took power in 2024 after years of Brexit-fuelled tension.

Their discussions are expected to focus on aid to war-torn Ukraine and bolstering defence spending, as well as joint efforts to stop migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats – a potent political issue in Britain.

It is the first state visit by an EU head of state since the UK's acrimonious 2020 departure from the bloc, and the first by a French president since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008.

Calling it "historic", Starmer's office said the visit would showcase "the breadth of the existing relationship" between Britain and France.

It added that Starmer would "aim to drive forward progress on tackling irregular migration, enhancing our defence and security co-operation and boosting trade and investment".

Macron's Francophile host King Charles has called ties with Britain's cross-Channel neighbour "indispensable" and the two men are believed to have a warm rapport.

The king made a 2023 state visit to France, one of his first after ascending the throne and widely regarded as a success.

"Our two countries face a multitude of complex threats, emanating from multiple directions. As friends and as allies, we face them together," King Charles is due to tell Macron at the banquet, according to a press release from Buckingham Palace.

"Our two nations share not only values, but also the tireless determination to act on them in the world."

Macron will follow in the footsteps of predecessors Charles de Gaulle and François Mitterrand by addressing lawmakers in the UK parliament.

On Wednesday, Macron will have lunch with Starmer and the two leaders will also co-host on Thursday the 37th Franco-British Summit, where they are set to discuss opportunities to strengthen defence ties.

Britain and France are spearheading talks amongst a 30-nation coalition on how to support a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, including potentially deploying peacekeeping forces.

The two leaders will dial in to a meeting of the coalition on Thursday "to discuss stepping up support for Ukraine and further increasing pressure on Russia", Starmer's office confirmed on Monday.

They will speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to the French presidency.

Irregular migration is also set to feature in talks between Macron and Starmer.

The French leader and his wife will enjoy various displays of British pomp and pageantry including lunch and later a banquet at the castle.

The British leader is under intense pressure to curb cross-Channel arrivals, as Eurosceptic Nigel Farage's hard-right Reform UK party uses the issue to fuel its rise.

London has for years pressed Paris to do more to halt the boats leaving from northern French beaches, welcoming footage last Friday showing French police stopping one such boat from departing.

Meanwhile, speculation is rife that Macron will use the visit to announce an update on his previous offer to loan the Bayeux Tapestry to Britain.

It emerged in 2018 that he had agreed to loan the embroidery, which depicts the 1066 Norman conquest of England, but the move has since stalled.

The UK government said on Monday that it continued to "work closely with our counterparts in France on its planned loan".

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250708-france-s-macron-kicks-off-pomp-filled-uk-state-visit

A UK-French initiative to deploy troops to Ukraine after a potential truce with Russia is floundering, and adding to tensions between the two countries, Politico reported on Monday, citing officials.

French President Emmanuel Macron stated last year that Kiev’s backers should not rule out placing boots on the ground in Ukraine.

Following the inauguration of US President Donald Trump in January, who has prioritized securing a ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev, Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer rallied together a ‘coalition of the willing’ – countries that could take part in a post-truce mission in Ukraine. Russia has warned it would not tolerate this.

The next meeting of the coalition is scheduled for Thursday and will be co-chaired by Macron and Starmer from the British Army’s Northwood Headquarters, home to NATO’s Allied Maritime Command. The gathering coincides with Macron’s state visit to the UK.

https://www.rt.com/news/621122-ukraine-coalition-willing-direction/

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

ACCORDING TO JULES LETAMBOUR "miam miam miam" IS A FRENCH EXPRESSION USED BY CHILDREN WHEN FACED WITH DESSERT.... AS WELL, "des baffes" MEANS "SLAPS ON THE FACE"... MEANWHILE, THESE EUROPEANS ARE STILL TRYING TO DEFEND THE INDEFENSIBLE: UKRAINE, STILL THE MOST CORRUPT COUNTRY IN EUROPE AND POSSIBLY IN THE WORLD...

YET, THE WORLD BANK AND THE IMF ARE GIVING UKRAINE MORE CASH:

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has criticized the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank for what he described as a deeply unbalanced distribution of financial aid, citing data that shows Ukraine has received more support in recent years than the entire African continent.

Speaking at the 17th BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Lavrov argued that the current structure of global financial institutions, established under the Bretton Woods system, disproportionately benefits Western-aligned countries at the expense of other developing nations.

“This has been most clearly demonstrated in the case of Ukraine,” Lavrov said, noting that the scale of financial assistance provided to Kiev exceeds all IMF and World Bank funding for the nations of Africa combined over the past two years. He called the disparity a “disgraceful statistic” that undermines the credibility of both institutions.

According to Lavrov, the World Bank has committed $54 billion to Ukraine since early 2022, twice as much as the annual volumes allocated to all Africa countries by Bretton Woods institutions. He also cited the IMF’s approval in 2023 of a $15.6 billion loan to Ukraine, equivalent to 577% of the country’s quota.

https://www.rt.com/africa/621175-lavrov-imf-aid-africa-ukraine/

MEANWHILE ENGLAND IS STIRING Azerbaijan AGAINST RUSSIA....