and certainly, since the war in ukraine where macron has been one of ft ones that have been most speaking with putin. what s the role of france this europe these days? it s interesting. usually the sort of default leader of europe is germany. but the new engineer hasn t chancellor has not really been able to fill a void left by angela merkel. macron has tried to step into that role. and i would say this state visit show hs this certain is something that s being perceived as potentially successful in the united states too. he is trying to engage in a number of ways on the world stage trying to really come up with new initiatives when it comes to climate change, when it comes to european strategic autonomy. but the question is for how long can he keep this up and how much success is he going to have with that? absolutely.
speaking about the war in ukraine and macron s part in the conversations with putin, more frequently, what can we expect the two leaders to focus on when it comes to helping ukraine during this visit? ukraine is heading into the winter months. this is a time when the u.s. is concerned about number of tactics that russia has been taking in ukraine in terms of cutting off the needs that the ukrainian people have. electricity and things like that. this is a time where you hear rumblings of potential talks for a diplomatic resolution. ukrainians said that s not where they are right now, but that s something that hangs over this and certainly some officials say this is a path that should be taken sooner rather than later. however, the president s line has always been nothing for ukraine without ukraine. so ukraine would have to be at
allies, particularly in europe. so the france is one of the oldest allies as the president president noted is a natural choice for the president when presented with a number of options. now there s a lot for these two to discuss. it s not all in agreement. they have some differences here. france is upset about some of the provisions in the inflation reduction act that give subsidies to u.s. manufacturers that france believes could hurt european companies. they have had differences over a submarine deal that the president called clumsily handled. but also try to find common ground and a way forward on some issues that are front and center, particularly the war in ukraine. the president is really trying to maintain european unity in terms of confronting rusia as well as supporting ukraine. france has been a key alloy for the president. notably, president macron is somebody who talks regularly
peace. they began the first state visit by having dinner at an italian restaurant in georgetown tonight the president will host macron for a state dinner at the white house. with us now to talk about this is white house correspondent carol lee and paris correspondent rick nowac. why did he give his first state dinner to the french? you could sum that up this the phrase shared values. we heard the president in his comments talk about the shared values that the u.s. and france have both when it comes to democracies and freedom as well as human rights. that s something that s been a real signature hallmark of president biden s presidency as well as when he campaigned for the white house. that s this battle between autocraies vs. democracies. the first state dinner is going to be with a democratic country. the president also has really stressed the importance of rebuilding ties with america s
the table. you can imagine one supporting ukraine, how does that continue and maintain that support but also what other steps to take to put pressure on russia. and further down the road, what is the possibility to getting to some sort of peace here. i m wondering your thoughts on macron s strength in his own country. there were the protest throughout the last couple years with people that would actually take to the streets of paris about the price of gasoline. what s within his own country? it s certainly a lot more fragile than when had he came on his first state visit in 2018. he just lost his absolute parliamentary majority earlier this summer. that s going to potentially create problems around his second and last term. he can thot run for another term. so a lot of french politicians are positioning themselves to