The United States and French Ambassadors to Lebanon, Dorothy Shea and Anne Grillo, are headed to Saudi Arabia on Thursday for meetings with Saudi officials, the U.S. Embassy Beirut announced.
According to the embassy’s statement, Ambassador Shea will “discuss the gravity of the situation in Lebanon.” She will also highlight the importance of aid to the people, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), and the Internal Security Forces (ISF).
“In partnership with her French and Saudi counterparts, Ambassador Shea will also continue to develop our trilateral diplomatic strategy focused on government formation and the imperative of undertaking urgent and essential reforms that Lebanon so desperately needs,” the statement read.
The Embassy of France in Lebanon indicated that Ambassador Grillo will stress the importance of forming a credible government that is capable of implementing reforms and resonates with the demands of the Lebanese people.
The statement also said that Ambassador Grillo will express the imperative need to put more pressure on those responsible for the deadlock.
This visit follows the meeting held by the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, and Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud in which they discussed the Lebanon situation, the embassy stated.
Before meeting with their Saudi counterpart, Blinken and Le Drian discussed France’s decision to seriously take action against corrupt Lebanese officials hindering political progress.
