France and Saudi Arabia agreed on Saturday to do more to help the Lebanese population, work to solving a diplomatic row between Beirut and the Gulf states and jointly push to get the government there running.
Lebanese Information Minister George Kordahi resigned on Friday to help end a diplomatic spat with Saudi Arabia over comments he had made in October criticising Saudi Arabia's role in the war in Yemen, which had prompted Riyadh to ban Lebanese imports.
The two leaders spoke with Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Macron said he would call his Lebanese counterpart, Michel Aoun, on his return to Paris. Macron has led international efforts to resolve the political and economic crisis in Lebanon. But despite staking a lot of his capital on the issue for more than a year he has failed so far to push the country's squabbling politicians to carry out economic reforms that would unlock vital foreign aid.
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