French President Macron to host Saudi Crown Prince MBS in Paris for talks

French President Emmanuel Macron is due to welcome Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) to Paris for a two-day state visit, opening with the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup before turning to discussions on regional security and economic ties.

Key points

• Saudi Arabia is separately set to host Expo 2030 and the 2034 football World Cup, both probable to feature in Monday's discussions.
• France has been a long-standing weapons and defence supplier to Gulf states, and Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a growing investor in the French economy.
• Analysts say the pact reflects Riyadh's push to diversify its security partnerships beyond Washington.
• A number of agreements on health, transport and energy are due to be signed on Monday.

Notably, the visit begins Sunday evening as Macron hosts the crown prince at the esports tournament's final in Paris – the first time the competition, spanning video games to chess, has been held outside Saudi Arabia.

When Macron's office remarked the two leaders will discuss "the main topics of regional importance, within a framework of close collaboration between France and her partners in the Gulf", bilateral meetings and a business forum will follow on Monday. What's on the agenda.

Authorities expect discussion of energy routes that could bypass the Strait of Hormuz, including new pipelines, capacity upgrades and alternative port networks, alongside negotiations on the Iran conflict, Gaza-Israel and the wider situation in Palestine, and developments in Lebanon and Syria.

For context, a number of agreements on health, transport and energy are due to be signed on Monday. Macron's adviser remarked finding a resolution to the US-Israel war on Iran, now in its sixth month, remains out of reach, noting "It's difficult to see a way out."

After trips in 2022 and 2023, and builds on the Saudi-French Strategic Partnership Council rolled out during Macron's state visit to Riyadh in December 2024, the visit is MBS's third to Paris.

In practice, the Paris trip is Prince Mohammed's first outside the kingdom since Saudi Arabia signed a trilateral defence pact with Turkiye and Pakistan on August 7 – the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement, known as the Mecca pact.

Signed by the prince as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the agreement commits all three states to treat an armed attack on any one of them as an attack on all three.

Meanwhile, the accord builds on a bilateral Saudi-Pakistan mutual defence agreement signed in 2025, and comes as Gulf states weigh how to reduce their reliance on US security guarantees against the backdrop of the prolonged fallout from the Iran war.

Meanwhile, the two leaders last met in April in Islamabad during discussions between Tehran and Washington aimed at ending the Iran war, agreeing then to stay in "close contact" on de-escalation efforts.

Taken together, the developments around french President Macron to host Saudi Crown Prince MBS in Paris for point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.