French President Emmanuel Macron, addressing both houses of the British Parliament on 8 July 2025 during a state visit to the United Kingdom, urged London to join Paris in recognising a Palestinian state. He said such recognition, together with an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, was "the only path to peace" and warned that a war without end in Gaza threatens stability across the Middle East. Macron also pledged that "Europeans will never abandon Ukraine," telling lawmakers that France, the UK and a wider "coalition of the willing" would "fight to the last minute" to secure a ceasefire and negotiate a durable settlement with Russia. He framed both the Gaza and Ukraine conflicts as tests of the post-1945 international order that Paris and London, as permanent UN Security Council members, have a duty to defend. The remarks came on the first state visit to Britain by a French president since 2008 and the first by an EU leader since Brexit, adding diplomatic weight to Macron's calls. His appeal follows recent moves by several European countries to recognise Palestinian statehood, increasing pressure on the new UK government to clarify its stance.