US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday landed in Paris on his first international trip since his election win, preparing for a day of intense diplomacy before attending the reopening ceremony for the Notre Dame cathedral restored after the 2019 fire.
President Emmanuel Macron scored a major coup in Trump’s acceptance of the invitation to attend the ceremony in the evening, which will officially take place when archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich opens the doors to the cathedral at 1800 GMT for an almost two-hour ceremony.
The pair will be joined by scores of other leaders, with the event providing a unique chance to brush shoulders with Trump before the tycoon turned politician takes office in January.
The president-elect was to hold talks with Macron and may also meet Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
Such a meeting would be of huge importance given the fears in Kyiv that Trump, who once boasted he could end Russia’s war on Ukraine in 24 hours, may urge concessions to Moscow.
Comments are closed.