Saudi de facto ruler MBS to meet Macron in France: statement

Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has left for a state visit to France where he will meet President Emmanuel Macron, a statement said on Wednesday.

Macron will discuss the war in Ukraine and other matters when he meets with the prince on Friday, the French presidency said.

The planned talks between Macron and the Saudi crown prince come just a month after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky attended a summit of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia to canvas support, during a meeting at which bin Salman expressed his readiness to mediate in the war between Moscow and Kyiv.

The 37-year-old prince - who is overseeing sweeping social and economic reforms in the oil-rich monarchy - will also take part in the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact in Paris next week, the Royal Court statement said.

On Monday, Prince Mohammed, often known as "MBS," will attend an official Saudi reception for Riyadh's candidacy to host Expo 2030.

The trip underlines close French ties with the resource-rich Gulf.

In December 2021, Macron became one of the first Western leaders to meet Prince Mohammed in Saudi Arabia since Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside Riyadh's Istanbul consulate in 2018.