Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joined French President Emmanuel Macron and around 30 world leaders in Paris on Tuesday for France's Bastille Day celebrations, which this year were explicitly framed as a demonstration of European solidarity with Ukraine and a show of collective military strength directed at both Russia and the United States.

Ukrainian troops marched down the Champs-Elysées, the grand avenue at the heart of the French capital, as the Patrouille de France aerobatic jets streaked overhead trailing blue, white and red smoke — the colours shared by both the French and Ukrainian flags. Warplanes and military contingents from across Europe also took part in what officials positioned as a powerful symbolic statement at a moment of continued conflict in Ukraine.

For Macron, the occasion carried added personal significance: this was his tenth and final Bastille Day parade as president. By choosing to centre the ceremony on Ukraine and European defence, he used the occasion — France's national day, commemorating the 1789 storming of the Bastille prison that helped spark the French Revolution — to reinforce his long-standing argument that European security must be taken seriously and defended collectively.

The event was not without disruption from outside forces. Paris had already been forced to move its traditional Bastille Day fireworks display forward by a day to 13 July, as severe wildfires and a red-alert heatwave swept across parts of France, leading to the cancellation of firefighter balls that are a customary part of the festivities. The country was also turning its attention to another major event on Tuesday evening, with France set to face Spain in the football World Cup semi-final.

The gathering underscores how European governments have sought to use high-profile public moments to reinforce political commitment to Ukraine, at a time when the war with Russia continues and questions persist over the long-term posture of Western allies. The presence of so many leaders on the Champs-Elysées sent a message that, for now, that coalition of support remains intact.