Macron weclomes Carney to the Elysee Palace. /Thomas Padilla/Reuters

Upending Canadian tradition, Mark Carney opted for Paris over Washington for his first diplomatic trip. 

The Canadian prime minister has visited France for his first foreign trip since taking over from Justin Trudeau.

Carney met French president Emmanuel Macron for a working lunch on March 17 at the Elysee Palace.

The two leaders discussed international crises, most notably the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with their meeting coming a day before Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a telephone call to discuss a possible ceasefire, and potential peace negotiations.

Canada has been playing a key role in meetings led by France and the UK in recent weeks focused on establishing an international military bloc to support Ukraine in the future with security guarantees.

Canada has not ruled out joining Paris and London in potentially sending troops into Ukraine as part of a peacekeeping force.

The two leaders also addressed how to respond to the wide-ranging tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, who has targeted Canada and Europe in particular with the import taxes.

Following France, Carney is due in the United Kingdom for talks with his British counterpart, Keir Starmer – and opting for Europe as the destination of his first foreign trip is a marked change from tradition. 

New Canadian prime ministers usually visit the United States, their closest geographical neighbor and biggest economic partner.

But the recent downturn in links between Ottawa and Washington – sparked by the Trump administration's imposition of tariffs on goods being exported from Canada to the U.S. and the U.S. president's repeated statements expressing his ambition that Canada become "the 51st state" – has impacted the normally cordial relationship between the two North American nations.

Speaking on Monday in Paris, Macron said "choosing France is an immense honor and shows the importance of the relationship between France and Canada."

Carney, while insisting that "we are determined to maintain the most positive possible relationship with the United States," called France a "trusted ally" and said "France shares our values in this age of economic and geopolitical crises."

He also called Canada "the most European of non-European countries" – a week after one poll revealed 44 percent of Canadians would be in favor of joining the EU, with 29 percent against. By contrast, only 10 percent of poll respondents were in favor of Trump's '51st state' idea.