Biden in France to mark D-Day's 80th anniversary, promote international alliances

Along with French President Emmanuel Macron, British King Charles III and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Biden will on Thursday remember the heroism of the Allied troops who gave their lives often far from home in the landings on June 6, 1944 to free Europe from Nazi occupation.

For King Charles, it will be his first overseas visit since his cancer diagnosis.

While the sacrifice of Allied soldiers will be centre stage, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian President Sergio Mattarella will also be present as a sign of international post-World-War-II reconciliation.

Flying aboard Air Force One, Biden touched down at Paris Orly airport and was welcomed by Prime Minister Gabriel Attal.

Biden was also expected to promote America as a defender of democracy and international alliances during his state visit that will last to Sunday, contrasting himself against election rival Donald Trump.

But the war that has raged in Ukraine since Russia's February 24, 2022 invasion, will take centre stage with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also attending and scheduled to meet with Biden, according to the White House.

No official from Russia has been invited, after Paris reversed plans to host lower-level representatives in recognition of the Soviet Union's immense contribution in World War II.

PERSPECTIVE © FRANCE 24

The most honoured guests will be the surviving veterans: some 200 are expected, a number that is dwindling every year with most at least in their late 90s and some over 100.

'We won the war' 

Biden, Macron and Zelensky are coming together at a critical moment in the Ukraine conflict, with Kyiv warning that Russia risks gaining the upper hand without a significant increase in Western help.

Macron has already sought to break taboos by refusing to rule out sending troops to Ukraine, a position that unsettled some EU allies.

But there have been shifts in recent weeks, with the West showing readiness to allow Ukraine to use Western-provided weapons to strike targets in Russia and France pushing for the deployment of European military instructors in Ukraine.

Macron, who once sought to build a relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly warned about the existential nature of the Ukraine conflict for Europe, saying in a speech in April: "Our Europe is mortal, it can die."

Welcoming veterans as they arrived by air in Normandy, the French leader's wife Brigitte Macron expressed France's "deepest respect and deepest love", in a video posted on Macron's X account.