President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron are scheduled to meet Monday in New York ahead of the U.N. General Assembly’s annual debate, with Ukraine, the Middle East and other international issues expected to feature prominently during a week of diplomacy.

By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.

President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron are scheduled to hold talks Monday evening in New York as world leaders gather for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly’s high-level debate.

The bilateral meeting is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. local time Monday, or 11:35 p.m. in Paris, according to the White House schedule reported by Le Monde. The meeting comes one day before the General Debate formally begins Tuesday at U.N. headquarters.

Nearly 130 heads of state and government are expected to participate in this year’s high-level gathering. The 81st General Assembly’s General Debate runs from Sept. 22 through Sept. 26 before concluding Sept. 28.

Macron is arriving in New York after meeting Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, the French archipelago located off Canada’s Atlantic coast near Newfoundland. The two leaders used the visit to discuss closer cooperation between France and Canada before Macron continued to the United States.

Once in New York, Macron’s diplomatic schedule is expected to extend considerably beyond his meeting with Trump.

The French president is also scheduled to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as the war between Russia and Ukraine remains a major subject before the United Nations. Trump is separately expected to meet Zelensky during the gathering.

France is also organizing a U.N. Security Council session devoted to Ukraine.

“France is convening a UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine and is also focused on Black Sea food security and grain exports,” a French Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, according to RFI’s account of Macron’s U.N. schedule.

Food exports through the Black Sea have remained closely connected to the Ukraine conflict because both Russia and Ukraine are major agricultural exporters and disruptions to shipping can affect grain supplies well beyond Europe.

Middle East diplomacy will form another part of Macron’s schedule.

The Élysée Palace has been working to arrange meetings between the French president and several Middle Eastern leaders, including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, according to French reporting on the planned meetings.

Pezeshkian is attending the General Assembly amid continuing regional hostilities and disruptions to global energy markets. The United States approved visas for senior Iranian officials to attend the U.N. gathering despite the ongoing conflict involving Washington and Tehran.

France has faced sharply higher fuel costs as fighting in the Middle East disrupts major energy routes. Macron said last week that pump prices had reached historic levels, pointing to the near-closure of the Strait of Hormuz and attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis on Saudi Arabia’s energy infrastructure, including facilities connected to the alternative export route through Yanbu.

French diesel prices reached a record €2.41 per liter Sunday as oil-market disruptions continued, according to an AFP analysis.

Artificial intelligence will also be part of Macron’s agenda during the gathering.

“The French president will also meet with key global players in the field of artificial intelligence, a topic that Paris hopes will receive greater attention in international forums,” Le Figaro reported.

The issue arrives at the U.N. as governments increasingly debate international cooperation over AI development, security and regulation. Artificial intelligence is among the subjects being discussed during the broader high-level week.

Macron is scheduled to address the General Assembly on Tuesday, when he is expected to make the case for what he has described as “effective multilateralism.”

The concept, according to the Élysée Palace, would be “based on coalitions of states and actors capable of producing concrete results.”

Macron previewed that argument during a Friday briefing in which he said the United Nations is “in trouble” and raised questions about the “effectiveness” of the current system of multilateral cooperation.

His remarks come as France and other European governments advocate strengthening international institutions while also seeking smaller coalitions capable of acting when broader agreements cannot be reached. The European Union has identified effective multilateralism and support for the U.N.-centered international system among its priorities for the General Assembly’s 81st session.

The United Nations has selected “Restoring trust, managing transformation: A United Nations that delivers for all” as the theme for this year’s General Debate, according to the organization’s official schedule for the 81st session.

Monday’s Trump-Macron meeting will therefore come at the beginning of a diplomatic week encompassing the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, energy security, artificial intelligence and questions about the future role of international institutions.

Both presidents are expected to continue separate rounds of meetings with other world leaders after their bilateral talks as the General Assembly moves into its opening day Tuesday.

Original article