Before the Notre Dame ceremony

Three-way meeting between Trump, Zelensky and Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron (center) met with Donald Trump and the Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Selenskyj on Saturday afternoon.(Bild: AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron is using the participation of US President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyi in the ceremonial reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris for a three-way meeting at the Elysée Palace beforehand. 

Zelensky joined Macron and Trump for the meeting at around 5.30 p.m., the Elysée announced on Saturday. Originally, two individual meetings between Macron, Trump and Selensky had been announced.

Nehammer spoke with Selenskyj
ÖVP Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer had previously spoken to Selenskyj and offered him Austria as a venue for peace talks. On X, Nehammer thanked Selenskyj for "the good and profound conversation today in Paris". "As a neutral country, Austria is ready to host peace talks at any time," he added. Nehammer had previously offered Austria as a venue for peace talks in a telephone conversation with Trump.

(Bild: AFP)

Expansion of support for Ukraine
Selenskyj, for his part, made no reference to peace talks in his post on X. "I expressed my gratitude for Austria's support for Ukraine, and we talked about extending this support for the coming year, with a focus on supporting our energy system in winter and protecting Ukrainians from Russian terror," he wrote.

"I have invited Austria to join the G-7 joint statement of support for Ukraine and to sign a bilateral agreement on long-term future support," he added. "Together, we must force Russia to build a lasting and just peace."