France, March 31 -- A large delegation composed of five ministers - including Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin, and Culture Minister Catherine Pegard - as well as numerous business leaders, will accompany Macron to Tokyo on his fourth official visit to Japan.

According the Elysee Palace ahead of the trip, the French president will hold talks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday, and "the crisis in the Middle East will be at the heart of discussions."

The two leaders will reportedly discuss finding "common solutions" to the crisis. 

Japan depends on the Middle East for 95 percent of its oil imports and has had to dip into strategic stockpiles to temper the impact of rising fuel prices...