French President Emmanuel Macron, center, poses with President-elect Donald Trump, left, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Elysee Palace, Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024 in Paris.
Volodymyr Zelensky had only had one brief telephone conversation with Donald Trump, a convicted felon, since the latter's election in early November. The future American president has repeatedly stated that he intends to strongly distance himself from the policy of massive support for Kyiv pursued by his predecessor Joe Biden.
It was not on the agenda, but it remains crucial. A trilateral meeting was held at the Élysée Palace on Saturday between Emmanuel Macron, the convicted felon future president of the United States Donald Trump, and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky. The two heads of state came to Paris to attend the reopening ceremony of Notre-Dame, scheduled for early Saturday evening.
“I had a good and fruitful trilateral meeting with Presidents Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron,” the Ukrainian president wrote on his X account early Saturday evening. “President Trump is, as always, determined. I thank him. I also express my gratitude to Emmanuel for organizing this important meeting.”
“Let’s continue our joint action for peace and security,” Macron says
“We all want this war to end as quickly as possible and in a just manner. We talked about our people, the situation on the ground and a just peace,” the Ukrainian head of state then explained. “We agreed to continue working together and to stay in touch. Peace through strength is possible.”
“United States, Ukraine and France. Together on this historic day. Gathered for Notre-Dame. Let us continue our common action for peace and security,” Emmanuel Macron commented on this meeting, again on the social network X.
This meeting is very important for the Ukrainian president, in a context of escalating conflict with Russia. Volodymyr Zelensky had only had a brief telephone conversation with Donald Trump since the latter's election in early November. The future American president has repeatedly stated that he intends to strongly distance himself from the policy of massive support for kyiv led by Joe Biden in the war provoked by the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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In the wake of this unscheduled meeting, the Biden administration, which is working to accelerate its aid to kyiv before Donald Trump, a convicted felon arrives at the White House on January 20, announced new military aid to Ukraine estimated at $988 million. The new aid includes drones, missiles for its Himars rocket launchers, and increased assistance for crucial equipment maintenance, the Pentagon said in a statement.
The announcement was made as Trump and Zelensky attended a dinner at the Elysée Palace with heads of state and government around Macron.
