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Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Just days after succeeding Angela Merkel as Germany's chancellor, Olaf Scholz traveled to Paris Friday to speak with French President Emmanuel Macron in his first official bilateral meeting. The two leaders discussed a range of subjects, including climate change, dealings with China and its human rights record and the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
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Another concern expected to be given attention is a natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany.
Scholz's new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, was also expected to consult with French officials about how to respond to the Russian military build-up along the eastern Ukrainian border.
U.S. President Joe Biden said this week that sending troops to Ukraine was "not on the table."
Schols will also travel to Brussels to meet with top NATO officials. The trip to France and Belgium is his first as chancellor.
In Brussels, Scholz will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg.
Wednesday, Scholz was officially elected as Germany's ninth chancellor since the end of World War II. His Social Democratic Party is part of a three-party governing coalition, with the Green Party and the Free Democrats.
It's the first power-sharing agreement of its kind and the first governing alliance with three parties in Germany since 1957. Scholz is Germany's first new chancellor since 2005.
