Macron set for Putin meeting in desperate bid to reset ‘strained’ ties

The meeting next Monday, held at the palace just outside Paris, is set to coincide with an exhibition which marks 300 years of Franco-Russian diplomatic ties since the visit of Russian tsar Peter the Great to France in 1717.

The two leaders will meet to discuss joining forces to fight the growing threat of radical Islamic terrorism and settling the ongoing conflicts in both Syria and Ukraine, the Kremlin said in a statement.

The Versailles visit comes just three weeks after Mr Macron, a 39-year-old centrist, won the presidency over right-wing leader Marine Le Pen; and just seven months after Mr Putin, 64, cancelled a trip to Paris for the opening of a state-financed Orthodox cathedral complex near the Eiffel Tower over a bitter spat with Socialist François Hollande, Mr Macron’s predecessor.

Mr Putin refused to attend the opening after Mr Hollande said that Russia’s bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo and its backing of the Syrian regime and of its leader Bashar al-Assad amounted to “war crimes”. 

Mr Putin, did, however, warmly congratulate Mr Macron on his landslide victory, urging him to “overcome mutual distrust” and to “join forces to ensure international stability and security”.

Russia’s ambassador to France, Alexander Orlov, told a group of business leaders last Friday that Russia had a “positive perception” of Mr Macron, whom he described as “intelligent, realistic and pragmatic”.

Mr Macron, for his part, has said that the channels of dialogue between France and Russia should be “kept open,” despite openly condemning Russia for its annexation of Crimea, its unwavering support for Mr al-Assad and its use of state-controlled media to destabilise public opinion worldwide.

Mr Macron has also accused the Kremlin of being behind the cyberattack on his election campaign and of leading a “smear campaign” against him in a bid to boost pro-Russia Mrs Le Pen’s chances of winning the presidency.