Media learned about Macron's pressure on Trump to hold a meeting with Zelensky

US President-elect Donald Trump had no desire to hold a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term expired in May), but he was persuaded to do so by French leader Emmanuel Macron. About this on December 8 wrote the American portal Axios, citing sources.

"In recent days, Macron has been working to convince Trump, who is visiting Paris to attend the opening of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris, to hold a joint meeting with Zelensky. <...> At first, Trump did not want to hold a meeting, but eventually agreed," the publication said.

The portal also pointed out that the final decision to hold a trilateral meeting was made shortly before its start. The conversation between the politicians lasted 45 minutes and was "good and fruitful," Gazeta.Ru added.

Earlier on Sunday, The New York Times reported that the meeting between Trump and Zelensky at the opening of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris demonstrated Kiev's willingness to make concessions on negotiations. It was specified that Ukraine saw an opportunity to get closer to the future American leader and convey its position in the conflict. After the meeting, the President-elect of the United States said that Zelensky would like to "make a deal" with Russia.

Before that, on December 4, it became known that Trump's team has three plans to resolve the conflict in Ukraine. They include a plan from US special envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg, another from Trump's vice-president-elect JD Vance, and the third was put forward by Richard Grenell, Trump's former acting intelligence chief.

Russian President Vladimir Putin named the conditions for negotiations on Ukraine back in June at a meeting with the Russian Foreign Ministry leadership. Thus, the Ukrainian army should leave the territories of the new regions of the Russian Federation, and Kiev needs to abandon the idea of integration into NATO.

The last round of negotiations took place in Istanbul on March 29, 2022. They lasted about three hours. Later, Kiev officially gave up contacts with Moscow.