Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will meet his US counterpart Donald Trump on Tuesday in Washington, as US pressure mounts on Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah.

The visit comes a day after the United States, which sponsors negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, announced the start of implementation of a framework signed by the two countries. Among its terms is that the Lebanese army will assert its authority over 'experimental zones' in southern Lebanon.

These zones are located adjacent to territories occupied by Israel in southern Lebanon, while the Israeli army is present at the edges of one of its towns. Israeli soldiers have infiltrated vast areas in southern Lebanon since the war between them and Hezbollah began on March 2.

The framework agreement also stipulates a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the south, but Israel conditions the withdrawal on the disarmament of Hezbollah. It says it will keep its forces for now in what it has designated a 'security zone'.

Washington is pressuring Lebanese authorities to disarm Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters after meeting Aoun on Sunday: 'As long as this problem persists, Lebanon will not truly enjoy peace.'

In a previous statement by the US State Department, Rubio praised 'the courage of the Lebanese government (...) and its determined efforts to restore Lebanon's sovereignty, disarm Hezbollah, and dismantle its terrorist infrastructure'.

This is the first visit by a Lebanese president to the United States since 2009, when then-President Barack Obama received his counterpart at the time, Michel Suleiman.

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Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, says the meeting, although it 'shows continued US interest in Lebanon', 'raises a lot of concern about what might be demanded of Lebanon afterward'.

Aoun, a former Lebanese army commander, pledged since his election as president in early 2025 with Western support to disarm Hezbollah, a major political shift in Lebanon, a step repeatedly rejected by Hezbollah.

Hezbollah, backed by Tehran, opened a front with Israel from southern Lebanon in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the first day of the US-Israeli attack on Iran, and Israel responded with a devastating military campaign.

Israeli strikes since the start of the war have killed more than 4,300 people in Lebanon, according to authorities.

The pace of violence has significantly decreased since the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran last month, coinciding with the continuation of negotiations between Lebanon and Israel.

The Lebanese army is supposed to deploy in the 'experimental zones' after Israel withdraws from them, work to disarm the party there, and prohibit any military presence for any group outside the legitimate forces, serving as a trial for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from other areas.