00:00 Mr. President, dear Joe, ladies and gentlemen, ambassadors, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. President,
00:24 you are honoring us with a state visit to France after your presence and that of your
00:31 wife Dr. Jill Biden after the 80th anniversary of D-Day in Normandy. And I believe your veterans,
00:43 our veterans, and those of all the allies were honored by your presence and that of
00:51 other leaders on the 6th of June and by the warm welcome they enjoyed while they were
01:01 there. But this says a lot about the strength of our alliance and what binds France and
01:07 the United States of America. This is a unity of blood shed to address the great challenges
01:19 of the day, but it is this bloodline that is the connection between our two flags, our
01:27 two nations. So once again, thank you for your presence. Together with the President,
01:32 we discuss the great issues that we are facing, the first of which being Ukraine. Today in
01:40 Ukraine, men and women are fighting with remarkable courage, determined not to give in faced with
01:51 the Russian aggression, the unjustifiable aggression. Jointly, we responded to extend
01:59 our support to this European nation which is fighting for its survival and its freedom,
02:04 and we will continue to do this as intensely and as long as it's necessary. And I would
02:07 like to thank you, sir, for the commitment of the United States of America and the recent
02:12 decisions you recently confirmed whereby you came to our sides and played a critical role
02:21 in this conflict. This conflict is all about the security and stability of all Europe.
02:30 Many thanks again, and I think we see eye to eye on this war raging in Ukraine. We took
02:37 joint decisions authorizing Ukraine to fight back, strike its aggressor when defending
02:44 its territory. We are, of course, making great efforts to arm, train, equip the Ukrainian
02:51 army, and we made remarkable decisions. We mentioned the details of the war, as I said,
03:00 raging out there. But during the G7, we hope, both hope that all members of the G7 will
03:09 agree to a $50 billion solidarity fund for Ukraine, and then the peace conference in
03:16 Switzerland. You will be represented there. This will be a critical stage as well, and
03:20 of course, the NATO summit in Washington, D.C. As regards the Ukrainian issue, as I
03:26 said, we do see eye to eye. Respect for international law, the freedom of peoples to determine their
03:38 own future, to self-determination, and thank you for being at your side. This close cooperation
03:44 between France and the United States concerns other crises as well. There should be no dual
03:51 standards, and although there are many crises around the world, we're still applying the
03:55 same principles, with the same determination. In Gaza, we want to obtain the immediate liberation
04:04 of hostages, and we can only welcome the liberation of four hostages by the Israeli army. We want
04:12 to achieve an immediate ceasefire and open up the prospect of a political solution, which
04:19 is the only one that can bring about a fair and lasting peace and meet the security of
04:24 concerns of both people, and that is why we are supporting the comprehensive proposal
04:30 of the United States of America. After nine months of conflict, the situation in Rafa
04:36 and the human consequences are unacceptable. It is not acceptable that Israel should not
04:42 open all checkpoints to humanitarian aid as requested by the international community
04:50 for months. Israeli operations should stop there, and the United Nations Security Council
04:59 has a role to play, but of course jointly we will double down to avoid regional escalation.
05:06 In particular, in Lebanon, where we are working on de-escalation on the blue line and on the
05:13 institutional aspect, and both countries are working with both, and indeed all, stakeholders
05:21 to ensure that all parties come back to their senses. Regarding Iran, we know the same thing.
05:29 There is an all-out escalation, unprecedented attacks against Israel, operations of regional
05:37 destabilization, and of course the Iranian nuclear program. Both our countries are determined
05:43 to bring pressure to bear to counter this trend, and this was demonstrated recently
05:49 enough a few days ago by jointly adopting a resolution at the International Atomic Energy
05:57 Agency. The self-same determination is there. We do not wish to apply double standards,
06:03 and that is why we coordinate our efforts in Africa, the crisis in Sudan, in the east
06:08 of the Democratic Republic of Congo, throughout the region, and over and beyond this. Our
06:18 two countries, with a mean sense of leadership, will address the challenges of our time, especially
06:22 those touching the most vulnerable countries. We do wish to achieve a fairer international
06:32 order. That is the meaning of the Paris Pact for the people and the planet, but also initiatives
06:38 for a more efficient tax system. We are stepping up the exit from coal energy. There will be
06:47 a conference on the ocean, and we are mobilizing efforts on global health. We will be both
06:56 involved in organizing the Gavi conference here in Paris. That is also what lies behind
07:04 this proposition of an Olympic truce, which was proposed by the UN just a few days ago.
07:12 On the economic front, we are both concerned about China's unfair trade practices, which
07:17 bring about overcapacity. This is of such importance for the global economy that we
07:23 have to act in a coordinated fashion. During my visit in December '22, I explained the
07:29 consequences of the Inflation Reduction Act on the European economy. We discussed this
07:35 again. That piece of legislation is useful because it makes it possible -- indeed, it
07:40 steps up the decarbonization of the American economy and therefore the implementation of
07:46 the Paris agreements. But of course, we want to reset, as it were, both our economies -- that
07:52 is, the European economy and that of the United States of America -- in terms of regulation,
08:00 investment, and on such issues as clean tech, artificial intelligence, and indeed agri-food
08:08 issues. But of course, we want to work on a bilateral level for better cooperation.
08:15 American students, American scientists, American entrepreneurs are more than welcome in this
08:20 country. We wish there would be more of them. We also have cooperation based, since the
08:26 state visit of December 2022, around the civilian nuclear industry and the space industry. We
08:34 want to go further. Indeed, a number of agreements were signed between CNES and NASA on Earth
08:40 observation or indeed the Artemis program. And also proud to announce that the first
08:47 American high-speed train built by Alstom will be commissioned in the United States
08:51 by the year's end. And that is also a sign of increased cooperation between our railroad
08:59 industries. And this is a sign of economic cooperation, but also a step towards the energy
09:05 transition resorting to France's technological excellence.
09:10 I would also like to signal the importance of American investors in France. There was
09:15 the Choose France Summit in France. France will start a new foundation worth 100 million
09:22 euros to promote university exchanges and exchange programs of research between two
09:28 countries. I would like to thank companies that joined this. In particular, CMACGM was
09:33 very much involved. This new initiative comes after the success of the Villa Albertine project,
09:39 where several cities in your country received as many as 180 creators and intellectuals
09:46 in a matter of two years in about 50 cities.
09:48 I shall not speak longer, but I would like to say that regarding the wars around the
09:57 world, inflicting pain around the world on big international issues and on the bilateral
10:02 front, together with President Biden, we want to have a joint roadmap. We need to trust
10:10 in the future, trust in progress, trust in innovation, the determination to create jobs
10:18 not just in the U.S., but in Europe as well. We want to be there when the economy is properly
10:26 decarbonized, but we want to build peace. We mustn't be naive. We must be on the side
10:30 of those who resist. We must not be naive. In other words, we need to find demanding
10:35 solutions.
10:37 But I would like to thank you, Mr. President, to be not the president not just of the first
10:42 of the greatest world power, but you being clear and loyal, a partner who respects Europeans
10:51 and who wants to build on these agreements from the Ukraine to the Middle East through
10:56 what we're picking up today on the economic front.
11:00 Thank you. Thank you for being with us today, and thank you for honoring Paris, Normandy,
11:07 and France during these celebrations with your state visit. Thank you.
11:11 >> The President: Well, Mr. President, thank you. It's been a great honor to be here, not
11:23 only in Normandy and France, but it was a moving experience for a student of French
11:29 history to be the chancelier today. It was a moving experience for us, for the whole
11:37 delegation.
11:38 You know, France was our first friend and remains our -- one of our best friends. This
11:48 week, we reaffirmed that friendship in a deeply meaningful way. But before I begin my remarks,
11:54 I want to echo President Macron's comments welcoming the safe rescue of four hostages
12:00 that were returned to their families in Israel. We won't stop working until all the hostages
12:05 come home and a ceasefire is reached. That is essential to happen.
12:10 You know, together we marked the 80th anniversary of the Allied operation that saved Europe
12:15 and incredible heroes who carried it out. I found it -- 180 brave men -- happened to
12:23 be all men at the time -- who came back to Normandy this week with such pride and sense
12:29 of devotion. I don't think anyone who got to meet them, shake their hands, or hear their
12:34 stories will ever forget their stories or the look in their eyes and the pride they
12:39 took with what they did. But you could also see the remembering the lost comrades at the
12:44 same time.
12:46 You know, the fact is that I know I won't forget it. I want to thank President Macron,
12:52 Mr. Macron, for -- the people of France for making our heroes feel so welcome, because
12:58 they did feel welcome. You could feel it. You could see it. And we'll never forget -- we'll
13:03 never forget what they did.
13:06 And this week, we have showed the world once again the power of allies and what we can
13:11 achieve when we stand together. That's what this relationship between France and the United
13:16 States exemplifies. You know, we see it in Ukraine, where our two countries are standing
13:21 with the Ukrainian people as they fight off Putin's brutal aggression.
13:26 And yesterday, I announced $225 million in new security assistance to Ukraine, and it's
13:31 the sixth package we've provided since we signed the national security legislation earlier
13:37 this year. I wish we could have done it when we wanted to six months earlier, but we got
13:42 it done.
13:43 With $61 billion in additional aid to Ukraine. And I commend France and our European allies
13:50 for their leadership as well. The EU has proved that -- provided over $107 billion -- $107
13:57 billion in assistance to Ukraine since the war began, because we know what happens if
14:03 Putin succeeds in subjugating Ukraine. And it won't -- we won't stop -- you know, you
14:10 know Putin's not going to stop at Ukraine. It's not just Ukraine. It's about much more
14:14 than Ukraine.
14:16 All of Europe will be threatened. We're not going to let that happen. The United States
14:20 is standing strong with Ukraine, we're standing with our allies, and we're standing with France.
14:25 We will not -- we will not, say it again, walk away.
14:30 And around the world, France and the United States are working together to strengthen
14:33 security and share prosperity. In the Indo-Pacific, we stand together for freedom of navigation,
14:40 transparent governance, as well as fair economic practices. In the Middle East and North Africa,
14:46 we work together on issues critical to peace and stability, like food security and counterterrorism.
14:52 From the existential threat of climate change, which is just growing greater, we're working
14:57 together to accelerate the global transition to net zero. It is the existential threat
15:02 to humanity -- among -- the only existential threat to humanity, including nuclear weapons,
15:08 is if we do nothing on climate change.
15:10 I could go on. Every day, the French people and the American people are connected in countless
15:15 ways through economic ties, collaboration in science and technology, educational exchanges,
15:22 and the fact is that these cherished ties between our families and friends continues
15:39 to grow. The bonds between our nations are strong, vast, and rooted in the most important
15:45 element, shared values. That's true today, as it's been from the very start. In a few
15:51 weeks, the United States will celebrate the Fourth of July, our day of independence. That
15:57 feat would not have been possible -- it's not hyperbole -- would not have been possible
16:02 were it not for France coming to our aid. We're a nation because of France in large
16:07 part. You stepped up when we needed help, and you did it. That's what Fourth of July
16:12 is about. That feat would not have been possible, again, without your support, without French
16:18 support. Today, I proudly stand with France and support freedom and democracy around the
16:24 world. That's what this spectacular week is all about. Mr. President, there's much more
16:29 we had the chance to talk about. We're going to continue to talk. You've become a good
16:33 friend, and I really appreciate your cooperation and your insights. Thank you, thank you, thank
16:38 you.
16:39 Merci beaucoup. Thank you, President.
16:41 Thank you.
16:42 Mr. President, can you give us an update on the Russian assets? Did you discuss that today?
16:43 Mr. President, can you give us an update on the Russian assets? Did you discuss that today?
Comments