PARIS (Reuters) – Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy will travel to Paris to attend the re-opening of Notre-Dame cathedral on Saturday, and could use the trip to hold talks with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, two diplomatic sources said.
There were efforts to arrange the meeting between Zelenskiy and Trump, who is also attending the celebrations, the two sources said. The plans would probably not come together until the last minute and any talks would be discreet, they added.
A Ukrainian delegation met on Wednesday with senior Trump aides, two sources familiar with the meeting said, as Ukraine seeks support from the incoming U.S. team for its war to repel Russia’s invasion.
The Ukrainian delegation was led by Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Zelenskiy.
The group met in Washington with Trump’s choice for White House national security adviser, Mike Waltz, and his Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, one of the sources said, without providing details.
Trump has vowed to bring about a negotiated end to the nearly three-year-old war between Ukraine and Russia, but has not provided details.
French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Trump late on Saturday afternoon at the presidential palace and meet Zelenskiy immediately afterwards, the French presidency said.
It did not say whether Zelenskiy and Trump would meet at that point, although one source said a trilateral meeting was possible.
Any meeting in Paris would be an opportunity for Zelenskiy to set out his case for support and assess Trump’s views. The two men also met at the U.N. General Assembly in September.
With France in political deadlock following the fall of the government on Thursday, Macron will also hope to shine on the international stage by bringing the two leaders together and showing that Paris has a key role in its support for Ukraine, and in any future negotiations, diplomats said.
(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
