Foreign Secretary in Paris for Middle East talks

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson will travel to Paris today for meetings on Yemen and Syria with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and European and Middle Eastern counterparts.

He will attend a meeting on Syria organised by France and the US to discuss how best to make progress towards a political solution to the conflict and support the efforts of the UN Special Envoy for Syria.

Following this, the Foreign Secretary will host his US, Saudi Arabian and UAE counterparts at the British Embassy in Paris for a meeting to discuss a political solution to the conflict in Yemen. The “Quad” group of Foreign Ministers last met in December in the UAE.

Speaking ahead of his travel, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said:

“The conflicts in Syria and Yemen have created two of the worst humanitarian crises of our time. There can be no military solution to either conflict, only peaceful and carefully negotiated political solutions will truly end the suffering.

“The UK will continue to take a leadership role in these crucial diplomatic efforts with our international partners around the world, intensifying work to find a sustainable way forward.”