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U.S. President Donald Trump will receive Qatar’s prime minister at the White House on Monday as efforts to end the conflict with Iran have stalled and significant differences remain over the terms of a possible agreement between Washington and Tehran, AnewZ reports.
According to the White House schedule, Trump will also hold closed-door talks with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, who is Qatar’s foreign minister. A U.S. official said Vice President J.D. Vance is also expected to meet the Qatari leader.
Rubio says little progress in talks with Iran
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Sunday that little progress had been made in negotiations with Iran and that an agreement in the near future did not appear realistic. He made the remarks before leaving Florida for a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in Paris.
Rubio said Trump favored diplomacy but sharply criticized Tehran’s demands. “I wouldn’t say we’re on the verge of a breakthrough. The talks haven’t been very productive so far, because Iran’s demands are not just unacceptable; in some cases, they are excessive, ridiculous and genuinely unrealistic,” he said.
Rubio added that leaders sometimes have to pursue policies that are unpopular with the public when they believe those policies are the right course. The conflict with Iran has been one of the issues prompting voter discontent with Trump.
Trump said on Sunday that he would be unlikely to order further strikes against Iran if meaningful progress were made in talks and a strong agreement reached. He also said the United States had identified infrastructure, including bridges, as targets if military operations resumed.
Iran and Ukraine on agenda at G7 meeting in Paris
As Qatar’s prime minister meets Trump in Washington, G7 foreign ministers are gathering in Paris amid uncertainty over the future direction of U.S. foreign policy.
Four G7 diplomats said they wanted to assess whether Trump’s defeat in the midterm elections would change Washington’s approach to Ukraine, the Middle East and its closest allies. The diplomats said Democratic gains could constrain the White House’s options, but warned against expecting the United States to return to traditional multilateral policies. Trump retains control over foreign policy.
The meeting was moved from Marseille to Paris shortly before it began because of security concerns following weeks of protests in France. It will be Rubio’s first meeting with representatives of allied countries since the elections. He is considered a possible candidate in the 2028 presidential election.
Iran is expected to feature prominently in the discussions. Washington’s G7 partners have repeatedly expressed skepticism about the war and said they were concerned that further U.S. military action could deepen the crisis rather than end it.
The G7 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States; the European Union is also taking part in the meeting. Ministers from Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Korea and Brazil are also attending.
Ukraine will be another key topic at the meeting. The talks come a day before trilateral discussions involving Ukraine, Russia and the United States are scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Sunday that representatives of France, Britain, Germany, NATO and the European Commission would also be in the UAE capital.
Differences over Europe’s diplomatic approach may also come up. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni warned on November 5 that Europe could be sidelined in efforts to end the war unless member states stopped pursuing separate diplomatic initiatives and agreed on a common strategy and representative.
Diplomats described the situation in Ukraine as difficult, saying the front line had largely stabilized, reducing the likelihood of major territorial gains. They said Russia had shifted to systematically targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure in an effort to cut electricity across the country during winter.
Diplomats said shortages of interceptors for Patriot missile defense systems and other air defense equipment remained Kyiv’s most urgent military vulnerability. They said a key aim of the G7 meeting was to maintain pressure on Moscow while securing additional military, financial and energy assistance for Ukraine.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the meeting would also discuss growing hybrid threats. He said recently that personal information belonging to him had been published on the dark web and that he attributed the hacking to pro-Russian actors.
Similar incidents have been reported across Europe, ranging from fake threats against aircraft to cyberattacks on supermarkets.
