The crown prince’s visit to Paris comes as Western and Middle Eastern leaders try to resolve the US-Israeli war with Iran, and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict both in Gaza and the occupied territories.
“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 with a view to backing stability and peace in the Middle East,” Macron’s office said in a statement on Thursday.
Macron and the Saudi leader, known as MBS, last met in April in Islamabad during negotiations between Tehran and Washington to end the US-Israeli war in Iran.
The two men agreed to stay in “close contact” and confirmed their commitment to supporting de-escalation efforts.
Saudi Arabia has publicly championed the Palestinian cause, spearheading the 2024 Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.
But it has also taken a pragmatic stance focusing on regional stability and regime security, with a reform programme aimed at diversifying its oil-based economy.
Military, economic cooperation
MBS’s visit follows Macron’s official visit to Riyadh in December 2024, when the two countries formally established a Franco-Saudi Strategic Partnership Council.
The two leaders aim to strengthen bilateral ties and will hold the council’s first meeting while MBS is in Paris this week.
The Elysée Palace noted it would be the occasion to address the “major economic and strategic issues” underpinning the partnership.
Paris and Riyadh are linked in particular by military and economic cooperation agreements, including in the energy and aerospace sectors.
Saudi Arabia is the world’s second-largest importer of arms and the region’s largest spender on defence. In 2024, it signed an agreement with French manufacturer Airbus for for up to 120 helicopters.
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Sports ambitions
MBS’s visit begins on Sunday with the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup, an annual world-class video game competition hosted this year in Paris – the first time it has taken place outside Saudi Arabia.
The hosting of the global championship shows “France’s renewed appeal as a destination for major international sporting events, following in particular the success of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games”, Macron’s office said.
It also reflects the shared ambition of France and Saudi Arabia to make sport and culture drivers of closer ties between the two countries, it added.
Teams play video game Valorant during the 2026 Esports World Cup at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre in Paris, on 11 July 2026.
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Khashoggi investigation
The visit also comes as the French judiciary is investigating the 2018 killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote critically about the oil-rich kingdom in The Washington Post, was strangled and then dismembered inside the Saudi consulate on 2 October 2018.
In a 2021 report, US intelligence concluded the crown prince was directly responsible for approving the killing.
On Friday, media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on Macron to “champion press freedom” when he meets MBS.
In a social media post, it said that “18 media professionals currently imprisoned in the Kingdom must be released as soon as possible”.