Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea expressed pessimism on Tuesday on the ability of rival parties to elect a new president, saying he was not seeing light at the end of the tunnel amid an ongoing “war of elimination.”

“The patriarch hasn't been able to convince MP Michel Aoun to attend electoral sessions,” Geagea said following talks with Cardinal Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki.

The U.S. and France are expected to hold talks on the political crisis in Lebanon this week as diplomats said efforts will be exerted to convince Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun to nominate a consensual presidential candidate.

An Nahar daily said Tuesday that French Ambassador to Lebanon Patrice Paoli was summoned to Paris to set the stage for the consultations between Washington and Paris on the presidential elections deadlock.

The recent meeting between head of the Mustaqbal Movement MP Saad Hariri and Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat failed to make a breakthrough in the dispute over the presidential elections, reported the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday.

Informed sources explained that Jumblat voiced his commitment to the nomination of Democratic Gathering MP Henri Helou, while the former premier expressed his commitment to maintaining his rapprochement with head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP Michel Aoun.

Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea said on Wednesday that his political arch-foe Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun isn't responsible for head of al-Mustaqbal Movement Saad Hariri's security, stressing that staging the parliamentary elections amid presidential vacuum is a dangerous precedent.

“It is early to discuss the legislative polls... But if we carry out the elections without a head of state then we will return to the same crisis,” Geagea told reporters at Maarab after lawmakers failed for the seventh time to elect a new president.

Lawmakers failed on Wednesday for the seventh time to elect a new president as differences between the rival parties seemed not to be abating.

Speaker Nabih Berri postponed the session to July 2 to fill the seat of the country's top Christian post at Baabda Palace.

A meeting was held recently between Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi in Bkirki in an attempt to end the rift among them, As Safir newspaper reported on Wednesday.

According to the daily, al-Rahi held a dinner banquet on Monday night in the presence of 25 bishops and attended by Aoun.

Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq stressed on Monday that consultations are ongoing with the Free Patriotic Movement, pointing out that dialogue between the political arch-foes maintained stability in the country.

“Dialogue is ongoing between us. It has so far achieved cabinet stability and facilitated the success of the security plan,” Mashnouq told reporters after talks with head of the FPM Michel Aoun in Rabieh.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is expected to launch contacts this week to resolve the presidential deadlock despite his deep frustration over the failure to implement any of the initiatives he has suggested so far.

According to An Nahar daily, Al-Rahi informed several of his visitors that he would contact officials on Monday and Tuesday to find ways to end the vacuum at Baabda Palace, which came as a result of the failure of lawmakers to elect a successor to President Michel Suleiman.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel telephoned Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi on Friday and both men discussed the vacuum in the state's top post.

The state-run National New Agency said Aoun and Rahi tackled the latest developments in Lebanon, particularly the presidential juncture.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi is expected to reconcile the rival Christian political leaders ahead of an initiative for a comprehensive reconciliation in the country, Bkirki's spokesman said.

Walid Ghayyad told al-Mustaqbal newspaper published on Thursday that al-Rahi “has a certain vision to implement this reconciliation starting with efforts to break the ice” among Maronite leaders.