PARIS, March 3. /TASS/: The UK’s King Charles III will arrive in France on March 26 for his first state visit since ascending the throne, Reuters reported on Friday, citing sources in the Elysee Palace.
According to its information, Charles III's first state visit will last four days and will end on March 29. The news agency theorized that the visit was due to the sides’ willingness to hit the reset button on the relationship, which was "strained" after a series of disputes.
The first guest from London, however, will be UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. According to French sources, he will arrive in Paris on March 10.
Relations between Paris and London have been marked by harsh rhetoric from both sides. As political experts recall, there have been serious disputes between France and the UK over such issues as post-Brexit relations, rows over fishing rights and the status of Northern Ireland.
As Agence France-Presse (AFP) noted, the countries also had different approaches to the Ukrainian conflict. AFP pointed out that former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson took an extremely hard line, while the French president defended the need to maintain channels of communication with the Kremlin.
Liz Truss, Johnson's successor, who was previously the UK’s Foreign Secretary, could not answer the question of whether she considered the French president "a friend or an enemy" at a press conference in August 2022. She said she would "judge by deeds, not by words". Macron himself responded by saying that "it's never good to lose your bearings in life."
