Scholz and Macron meet in Paris to discuss next moves on Ukraine

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris for a working dinner on Monday evening, the main focus of which was how best to coordinate continued Franco-German support for Kiev amid the war in Ukraine.
Steps towards European energy independence, defence and securing the supply of strategic raw materials were also discussed, the Élysée Palace said, as was the security situation in West Africa's Sahel region, where both countries have deployed troops to fight Islamist terror.
Scholz and Macron also discussed bilateral relations with a view to the next Franco-German Council of Ministers, the biannual meeting of the French and German cabinets.
"Whether at the G7 meeting in Elmau, the NATO summit or here in Paris - it is good that we are in close contact on the many pressing issues of the day," Scholz tweeted on Monday.
While the Monday dinner was only the pair's second official meeting, the two saw each other repeatedly at a number of international summits over the past week, and travelled together by train to the Ukrainian capital Kiev last month.