The talks in Paris are being overshadowed by the aftermath of the US’s military action in Venezuela, where elite troops went in to seize the country’s President Nicolás Maduro and take him to face drugs and weapons charges in New York.
Following the raid, Trump said the US would “run” Venezuela for an unspecified period of time.
He also said the US was returning to last century’s policy of US supremacy in its sphere of influence in the Western hemisphere.
Looming larger over the Paris talks is Trump’s subsequent insistence that the US wants to annex Greenland – the semi-autonomous territory that is part of Denmark, a Nato ally.
The repeated threat prompted Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen to say any such move from the US would be the end of the trans-Atlantic alliance.
European leaders have been reluctant to criticise Trump’s intervention in Venezuela and its perceived implications for the world order.
But many, including Starmer and Macron, have sided with Denmark over Greenland.
As host of the talks, Macron will be keen not to have the issue derail the focus on Ukraine.