US President Barack Obama has invited French president-elect Francois Hollande for bilateral talks in Washington this month before members of the Nato defence alliance meet for a summit, a close Hollande aide said today.
Pierre Moscovici, Mr Hollande's campaign director, said Mr Obama had called Mr Hollande yesterday to congratulate him on his election victory and to invite France's president-elect to a meeting of G8 heads of state at Camp David on May 18th and 19th.
That will be followed by a summit of Nato leaders in Chicago on May 20th and 21st.
"He also proposed a bilateral meeting before that summit, in Washington," Mr Moscovici told journalists in Paris.
Mr Hollande, who beat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in an election yesterday with 51.7 per cent of votes, is due to be sworn in as French president on May 15th.
The trip to Washington will follow shortly after Mr Hollande's inauguration and his first trip abroad, to Berlin, where he will meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Reuters