Aoun meets Rubio in Washington

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the US State Department on Sunday, opening a series of official talks in Washington. It marks the first visit to the American capital by a Lebanese head of state since Michel Sleiman was received by Barack Obama in 2009.

Aoun, accompanied by First Lady Neemat Aoun, landed at Andrews Air Force Base on Saturday evening for the trip, which comes at Trump's invitation and follows the latest round of Lebanon-Israel talks held in Rome last week. He is due to meet President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday.

During the meeting with Aoun, Rubio praised what State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott described as "the courage of the Lebanese government, under President Aoun's leadership, for its determined efforts to restore national sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure, as well as advance toward peace with Israel." Rubio also reaffirmed US support for implementing the trilateral framework agreement among the United States, Lebanon and Israel.

According to a Lebanese official, Aoun intends to present Trump with a written proposal for dismantling Hezbollah's arsenal, believing the US president holds the leverage needed to secure an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. 

The visit will also touch on the return of displaced Lebanese to the south and efforts to consolidate the ceasefire, though Aoun has ruled out any direct meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for now, insisting a full halt to hostilities must come first.