Free Patriotic Movement leader Jebran Bassil and other politicians have been informed, in meetings inside and outside Lebanon, that the major capitals are willing to offer guarantees to all political forces should they endorse the presidential nomination of Army chief General Joseph Aoun, a media report said on Friday.

The approach of the Washington summit between the U.S. and French presidents regarding the situation in Lebanon is considered “a step in the right direction, but it does not exempt the Lebanese of the responsibility of holding a dialogue or reaching an understanding over a speedy election of a new president,” highly informed political sources said.

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati on Friday officially invited ministers to hold a session for the caretaker cabinet at 11am Monday.

“There is some sort of a tacit agreement between Mikati, the Shiite Duo and the parties represented in the government – except for the Free Patriotic Movement -- that no cabinet sessions shall be held unless it is extremely necessary, and this is what the current situation has actually reached,” sources close to Mikati had told al-Joumhouria newspaper.

"Dear Joe, you elegantly thanked France for the role we played in the historical agreement between Israel and Lebanon," French President Emmanuel Macron said, referring to a recent deal to demarcate the sea border between the two countries.

"Let me be honest: I think most of the work was yours."

The Biden administration has slapped terrorism sanctions on two accountants and two companies in Lebanon for providing the militant group Hezbollah with financial services.

The Treasury Department announced it would also impose sanctions on a third person for assisting Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated "foreign terrorist organization," with weapons acquisitions.

The European Council has adopted an assistance measure worth €6 million to the benefit of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).

Free Patriotic Movement chief Jebran Bassil has expressed relief over his “firm relation” with Qatar, its support for him and its efforts to lift the U.S. sanctions off him, a media report said on Thursday.

There is an “intersection” between the Shiite Duo and the West – represented in the French who are coordinating with the U.S. – over the election of Suleiman Franjieh as president, seeing as he does not represent any provocation to the international community, a media report said on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Lebanon in late December, a media report said on Thursday.

Reports about caretaker PM Najib Mikati’s inclination to call for a caretaker cabinet session have reignited his standoff with the Free Patriotic Movement, which refuses that any session be held amid the ongoing presidential vacuum.

In a statement issued overnight, the FPM had warned that such a session would “violate the constitution,” stressing that it will not “bow to any blackmail.”