PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron will hold separate bilateral meetings with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump ahead of the reopening ceremony of the Notre Dame cathedral on Saturday, the French presidency announced.
This will be Trump’s first visit abroad since his victory in the Nov. 5 election. Macron is among those leaders currently in power to have known the soon-to-be 47th president during his first term in office — a position he will look to leverage in order to assert himself as a key European partner to the U.S.
Trump’s return to power has led to concern across Europe about the future of American support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.
The Notre Dame Cathedral has been closed to the public since a massive fire broke out in April 2019. Dozens of global leaders and high-ranking officials, including current First Lady Jill Biden and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will also be in attendance.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen was also initially slated to attend, but canceled Friday evening. Earlier in the day, von der Leyen infuriated France by heading to Uruguay to sign a trade agreement with the South American Mercosur bloc, which Paris had vigorously opposed.
Veronika Melkozerova contributed to this report.
