President Joseph Aoun has discussed a French initiative aimed at helping demarcate the border between Lebanon and Syria during talks with French presidential chief of staff Vincent Giroud.
A presidential statement said Tuesday's talks in Beirut covered Lebanese-Syrian relations and the French initiative to assist in delineating the border based on maps and documents held by France dating back to the mandate period.
During that era, France divided the areas of the two countries according to its colonial policies, drawing what it then called the "State of Greater Lebanon (1920)" and Syria. That process led to overlapping borders and disputes that joint committees from both sides have failed to resolve.
In mid-2025, Lebanon's Foreign Ministry announced that Beirut had received from Paris copies of archival documents and maps related to its border with Syria, a step that could help advance land border demarcation between the two countries.
In a separate context, the statement said the Lebanese president briefed his French guest on "Israeli hostile practices such as blowing up and bulldozing homes and attacks on civilians," noting that "the option of negotiations he has adopted aims to end the suffering of residents of the south in particular and the Lebanese in general."
