Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab. (Credit: Anwar Amro/AFP)
BEIRUT — During a meeting in Washington Thursday, Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab and US energy envoy Amos Hochstein discussed the "next stage" following an October maritime border deal between Lebanon and Israeli authorities, a statement from Bou Saab's press office said Friday.
The deal, reached on Oct. 27, delineated disputed parts of the two countries' maritime borders in a patch of sea home to several potentially valuable offshore gas fields.
The agreement put an end to a dispute that has lasted since the late 2000s.
Bou Saab's statement added that Thursday's meeting "dealt with the importance of completing the demarcation of the maritime borders, the next stage, and what Lebanon can achieve in terms of financial and economic recovery, according to a road map previously discussed between the two parties, which includes an effective fight against corruption and the adoption of relevant laws."
White House Middle east officials Brett McGurk, Tari Wolf and Nadine Zaatar were also at the meeting Thursday, according to Bou Saab's statement.
The officials also discussed Lebanon's ongoing presidential vacuum, ahead of a meeting scheduled for next week in France on that issue.
Lebanon has been without a fully empowered cabinet since May 2022 elections and without a president for more than three months, since the end of former president Michel Aoun's mandate on Oct. 31.
The meeting planned in France next Monday will address how to end the political deadlock in Lebanon, French foreign ministry spokesperson Anne-Claire Legendre confirmed Thursday.
The Paris gathering is to be attended by representatives from France, the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt.
Bou Saab's meeting in Washington also touched on a long-awaited International Monetary Fund deal that would see Lebanon receive a multi-billion-dollar aid package.
To obtain the aid, which was first agreed upon in April 2022, Lebanon must implement certain economic reforms, including restructuring the banking sector, performing a central bank audit, lifting banking secrecy and other measures.