Maxime Prévot is a Belgian politician from the centrist party Les Engagés. Since early 2025 he has served in the federal government as Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Affairs and Development Cooperation in the De Wever government.
The official U.S. readout only says that Secretary Rubio and Deputy Prime Minister Prévot “discussed Venezuela” and does not specify which parts of Venezuela policy (such as sanctions, elections, migration, or humanitarian aid) were covered, so the precise aspects are not publicly known from this document or other official reports as of now.
“Counternarcotics cooperation” between the U.S. and partners like Belgium generally means working together against illegal drugs, including: sharing intelligence on drug trafficking networks; cooperating on police and customs operations (especially in major ports like Antwerp) and maritime security; supporting joint investigations and prosecutions against cartels and money‑laundering; and coordinating broader strategies through EU–U.S. and international forums to reduce both drug supply and demand.
The Prévot readout does not give more detail, but this is how U.S.–Europe counternarcotics work is typically structured.
The statement is referring broadly to the U.S.-backed Gaza ceasefire and “peace plan” negotiations that followed the late‑2025 Gaza ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. In that period, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff hosted talks with mediators from Qatar, Egypt and Türkiye in Miami to move to “phase two” of the Gaza ceasefire/peace plan. As of early January 2026, those talks were ongoing and fragile: mediators were still pushing for implementation of the next phase (including Israeli troop withdrawal arrangements, governance and reconstruction), while ceasefire violations and disputes over conditions (such as hostage issues and border crossings like Rafah) meant the process was only partially implemented and remained stalled in several areas.
The readout itself does not name a specific negotiating round, only “Gaza peace talks.”
Thomas “Tommy” Pigott is the U.S. State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson, a senior communications official in the Bureau of Global Public Affairs. In that role he is authorized to speak on behalf of the Department and the Secretary of State, including issuing official readouts of meetings, which is why the statement is introduced as “attributable to Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott.”
No. The official readout only notes that Rubio and Prévot discussed Venezuela, counternarcotics cooperation, and Gaza peace talks; it does not announce any new agreements, commitments, or specific follow‑up actions, and no such outcomes have been reported in other official summaries as of now.