Emmanuel Macron makes first French presidential visit to Mongolia

Mongolia was looking to ‘diversify its partnerships in order to be more robust and able to deal with its large Russian and Chinese neighbours,’ an Elysee source said

The vast north Asian country has been the subject of growing interest in recent years from the United States as part of a strategy to thwart the rise of China

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Mongolia’s President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron, centre, during a visit to Genghis Khan Museum in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 1:11am, 22 May 2023

Emmanuel Macron on Sunday made a brief but symbolic visit to Mongolia, the first by a French president to the country nestled between China and Russia that is of growing strategic interest in the West.

The French head of state was greeted by a traditional Mongolian guard of honour after landing in the capital Ulaanbaatar following the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

Macron then attended a reception at Sukhbaatar Square, which contains a large statue of Mongolian revolutionary hero Damdin Sukhbaatar and a monument to Genghis Khan.

French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Mongolia’s President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia on Sunday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was the star guest at the G7, where he addressed Western allies and leaders of non-aligned nations such as Brazil and India.

Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, France has stepped up diplomacy with countries that have not explicitly condemned it – of which Mongolia is one.

In Ulaanbaatar, Macron attended a state dinner at the museum of Genghis Khan, named for the 13th-century Mongol conqueror.

The institution will lend part of its collection to the Nantes History Museum in western France for an exhibition scheduled for October.