US secretary of state Marco Rubio will travel to Paris from 8 to 10 November for a gathering of G7 foreign ministers, the state department said on Friday. The Group of Seven comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. Ministers are set to discuss support for Ukraine as it fights Moscow's invasion, and efforts to stabilise the Middle East.
The state department said Rubio would advance American interests in engagements with his G7 counterparts. The visit is his first trip abroad since the Republican Party's heavy midterm losses, in which Democrats won full control of Congress, a sharp setback for President Donald Trump. The election's effect on US foreign policy is still unclear, and the Monday and Tuesday meetings give Washington's allies an early chance to gauge the administration's thinking.
The talks were originally planned for Marseille and were moved to the capital at the last minute. France's foreign ministry said the change was for logistical reasons. It comes during weeks of nationwide cost-of-living protests in France, which have been viewed with concern in the United States.
The Middle East has been at war since US-Israeli strikes targeting Iran in February. Russia-Ukraine negotiations under US mediation are scheduled for 10-11 November in Abu Dhabi. On Thursday Trump predicted an imminent deal with Russia covering Ukraine and all of Europe. His envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner wrote on X the same day that Trump had advanced talks with European leaders about the need for a broader European security architecture that can help establish the conditions for lasting peace. Washington's European allies have long rejected Moscow's desire to rewrite that architecture.
Officials from the G7 will meet alongside partners including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Korea, Brazil and Ukraine. France's G7 presidency ends at the close of the year, after which Washington is due to take over.
Rubio is widely viewed as a possible successor to Trump in the 2028 US presidential election. He dismissed reports that he planned to leave, telling The New York Times on Thursday that it has always been his plan to work for Trump until the end of his term.