President-elect Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron held a joint meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris on Saturday ahead of the reopening of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame.

Macron had sought the meeting to try to initiate a discussion on ending the war in Ukraine, an official in Macron’s office said. The three leaders posed together for photographers at the Elysee Palace and then met privately.

Zelenskyy called their discussion “good and productive” in a social media post. “We all want this war to end as soon as possible and in a just way,” he added.

The session lasted about a half hour, according to Zelenskyy’s office.

The high-profile meeting in a foreign capital is an unusual step for a U.S. presidential election winner still not in office. Incoming and outgoing U.S. leaders traditionally hew to the idea that the country has only one president at a time, particularly in international affairs.

But Trump is a familiar figure on the world stage because of his prior presidency. Global leaders are anxious to size up and influence his next steps. The visit to Paris is Trump’s first trip abroad since he won back the White House in November.

High-level discussions already have been underway between the Trump and Zelenskyy teams. A top Ukrainian official, Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential administration, met in Washington on Thursday with Vice President JD Vance and members of Trump’s national security team.

Zelenskyy has been trying to overcome Trump’s skepticism of Ukraine’s defense against Russia. During the presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to settle the conflict even before he takes office.

Macron welcomed Trump with a red-carpet arrival ceremony at the palace and a show of solidarity as the two men shook hands and embraced in front of photographers.

“We’ve had a good time together and we had a lot of success, really great success, working together on defense and offense, too,” Trump said in brief comments to reporters at the start of the meeting. “It certainly seems like the world is going a little crazy right now and we’ll be talking about that.”

Shortly before arriving at the presidential palace, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform about the war in Syria, where rebels opposed to President Bashar Assad have made rapid advances. A withdrawal of its troops that are helping back Assad might be “the best thing that can happen” to Russia, he said.

The U.S., he added, “should have nothing to do with it. This is not our fight.”

Trump came to Paris at a turbulent time for France’s government, which was toppled on Dec. 4 by lawmakers in a no-confidence vote. Despite parliament’s ouster of his prime minister, Macron has vowed to remain in office and serve out the remainder of his presidential term, which runs into 2027.

Dozens of heads of state and government were expected to attend the weekend festivities. First lady of the U.S. Jill Biden and the U.K.’s Prince William were also scheduled to attend.

Notre-Dame is set to reopen to the public on Sunday.

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(With assistance from Daryna Krasnolutska.)

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