Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven leading economies open two days of talks in Paris today, Monday 9 November, with the United States' top diplomat facing allies for the first time since his party's heavy losses in the midterm elections.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio is travelling to Paris from 8 to 10 November, the State Department said on 6 November, in his first trip abroad since Republicans lost control of Congress in the elections held on 3 November. The department said only that Rubio would advance American interests in meetings with his counterparts, but the gathering will give allies an early chance to gauge how the election result affects Washington's foreign policy.

The meeting brings together the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, with the European Union also taking part. France holds the G7 presidency for 2026, and this is the second formal two-day ministerial under that presidency, following the first in March at Vaux-de-Cernay.

The venue itself changed at the last minute. France told delegations on Wednesday 4 November that the meeting would move from the Mediterranean port of Marseille to the capital, Reuters reported, citing three diplomats and an email it had seen. The message gave logistical and operational reasons, pointing to the strain of holding the G7 meeting and the Paris Peace Forum within a very compressed timeframe. France's foreign ministry confirmed the change without giving further details, and some delegations were already in Marseille when the switch was announced.

The move also follows six weeks of nationwide protests in France over the cost of living. Demonstrations on 17 October ended in looting and clashes with police, and Marseille saw some of the worst violence, according to Reuters.

On the agenda are Ukraine, Iran, and freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and the Red Sea, according to the Associated Press. France also wants to address Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria, along with Africa, the Indo-Pacific, China, Venezuela, Cuba and Haiti. Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Ukraine have been invited to take part in some sessions, and a separate session on support for Ukraine is planned.

The talks come at a sensitive moment. Russia and Ukraine are due to meet in Abu Dhabi on 10 and 11 November for a new round of US-mediated talks, announced by US envoy Steve Witkoff. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a deal was close and could cover Ukraine and, in his words, all of Europe. His envoy Jared Kushner said on Thursday that Trump had advanced talks with European leaders about a broader European security architecture, an idea Washington's European allies have long resisted when it comes from Moscow.

Divisions within the group are likely to be on display. France has signalled that the meeting is unlikely to produce a joint communique, with a chair's summary the more likely outcome. Earlier G7 gatherings have struggled to reach broad agreement on security questions, and the Associated Press reported that those differences are likely to resurface in Paris. At the March ministerial, the group adopted a declaration calling for an immediate halt to attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, but most of America's closest allies met the war with Iran with deep scepticism while urging a diplomatic solution.

Rubio is also expected to face questions about Iran policy, CBS News reported, as diplomacy continues alongside the threat of renewed strikes. Bloomberg reported on 6 November, citing a diplomat, that the sides may be moving towards a deal to end the largely suspended war, centred on Iran reopening the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for US sanctions relief, followed by wider nuclear negotiations, with Qatar mediating. The same reporting said the US military had told Trump it favoured setting conditions by 9 November for a new attack.

Whether ministers issue a joint statement or only a chair's summary, and what language they agree on Ukraine and Iran, will be the clearest test of how closely the group still aligns with Washington. France's G7 presidency ends at the end of the year, with the United States due to take over.