The first six of a dozen Rafale multipurpose fighter jets purchased by Croatia from France landed at an air force base near Zagreb on Thursday with a welcome ceremony attended by top officials. The deal, signed in 2021 with French aircraft manufacturer Dassault Aviation, was said to be worth over a billion euros.
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said that it is no longer "in Paris' interest" to hold discussions with Russian representatives because Moscow distorts the content of such talks.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Paris to discuss support for Ukraine in the war with Russia and the conflict between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group with French President Emmanuel Macron.
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to "reduce tensions" between Paris and Berlin over Ukraine, Politico reported on March 13.
French police investigations into a fatal weekend attack near the Eiffel Tower are looking into the mental health of the suspected assailant who swore allegiance to the Islamic State group before stabbing a German-Filipino tourist to death and injuring two other people with a hammer. The French national taken into police custody, Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, has a history of mental illness and of Islamic radicalization, officials said.