PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron achieved a diplomatic milestone Saturday, hosting the first in-person meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and United States President-elect Donald Trump since he won the election this past November.
Both Zelenskyy and Trump, in Paris alongside dozens of global leaders and luminaries for the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral, had initially been scheduled to meet Macron in two separate bilateral meetings.
The French presidency confirmed just minutes before the meeting took place that all three leaders would convene together for a trilateral talk.
Trump’s election win last month sparked widespread concern in Europe about the future of U.S. support for Ukraine in its defense against Russia. Trump and Zelenskyy had spoken over the phone shortly after the race was called.
The president-elect’s visit to Paris, his first trip abroad since winning a second presidential term, got off to a rocky start as Trump arrived more than 40 minutes late for his meeting with Macron and greeted the French president with a characteristically intense and awkward handshake.