Marco Rubio expected in France, the G7 meeting to address a tense Middle East

On Friday, Marco Rubio will arrive in France for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers. The US State Department announced this on Tuesday, highlighting "the situation in the Middle East" as the war in Iran continues to destabilize the region. The objective is clear: to present a united front in the face of what Washington describes as "threats to peace and stability in the world." On paper, a routine meeting. In the air, however, there's a whiff of conflict.

A significant detail is that this trip is being presented as the Secretary of State's first trip abroad since the start, on February 28, of a strike campaign led by the United States and Israel against Iran. Donald TrumpHe, for his part, claimed that discussions were underway with Tehran, a version immediately denied by the Iranian side. The American president also announced a five-day suspension of his threat against the Iranian power grid, a calculated move, somewhere between pressure and a staged event.

In Cernay-la-Ville, diplomacy is tight and nerves are on edge.

In Cernay-la-Ville, near Rambouillet, the G7 foreign ministers, under the French presidency, will attempt to coordinate their actions. Iran has intensified its strikes in the region in retaliation for American and Israeli attacks, hitting Western military targets as well as energy infrastructure and civilian sites—a spiral of violence that is causing alarm among foreign ministries. On Saturday, the G7 already called on Tehran for an "immediate and unconditional end" to its attacks, which it deemed "unjustifiable." The words are firm; it remains to be seen how effective they will be against missiles.

Another issue on the table is the war between Russia and Ukraine, which Rubio will also discuss with his counterparts from the United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, and Canada. Two fronts, two approaches, the same risk of strategic fatigue—the kind that forces countries to choose their priorities. And while diplomats are meeting in seclusion, the markets are already voting, with rising oil and gas prices serving as a reminder that every salvo in the Middle East ultimately lands in European wallets.