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Zelensky, with Trump and Macron in Paris

2024-12-07 18:33:55, Kosova & Bota CNA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held trilateral talks with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and US President-elect Donald Trump in Paris on October 7, the city where world leaders have gathered to attend the reopening ceremony of the cathedral. Notre Dame.

Zelensky, who is looking to boost support for his country facing a Russian-launched invasion in 2022, arrived in the French capital at midday on December 7.

The joint meeting started at the Elysee Palace at 17:30 local time. The three leaders took a joint photo before the meeting, but no statement.

Zelensky is expected to leave Paris immediately after the ceremonies for the reopening of Notre Dame, which was restored after a devastating fire in 2019, have been completed. Nearly $1 billion in donations have been collected from around the world to restore the building.

Trump, who will begin his term as president on January 20, has criticized the billions of dollars worth of aid the United States has given Ukraine since the war began.

He has also said he could end the war within 24 hours of returning to the White House, a statement that has been interpreted to mean Ukraine would have to give up territory currently occupied by Russia.

Trump and Zelensky also have a long history between them, largely due to a famous phone conversation.

During the July 2019 phone conversation, Trump had asked Zelensky to investigate the activities in Ukraine of Joe Biden and his son Hunter. Joe Biden then defeated Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

That call led to accusations that Trump had conditioned $400 million in military aid in exchange for an investigation into the Biden family, and Trump faced a House impeachment in 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. . The Senate acquitted him of the charges in February 2020.

"We expect good discussions today during the meeting with Macron," a source from the Ukrainian delegation told AFP before the tripartite meeting became public.

This agency also reported that Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and one of Trump's closest allies, is expected to attend the ceremonies in Paris.

Also, earlier in the day, Zelensky said that Ukraine has received the second shipment of sophisticated F-16 fighter jets from Denmark.

In November, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen announced that her country would send two more shipments of F-16s to Ukraine. Six have already been sent, and in total Copenhagen will give Kiev 19 such planes./ REL