05 June, 2017
France invited Putin to the opening of a exhibit on the 300th anniversary of Russian Czar Peter the Great's trip to Paris just two weeks ago, shortly after Macron was elected. RT's chief editor Margarita Simonyan, in a statement, dismissed Macron's comment as "baseless accusations" for which "not a single piece of evidence" had been provided.
The Kremlin appeared to favour Macron's far-right opponent Marine Le Pen for the presidency during the campaign - a view reinforced when Putin granted her an audience a month before the election's first round.
But in an apparent warning to Assad and Russian Federation, he said the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a "red line" for his presidency and would draw an "immediate response" from France.
Neither leader took questions from the media.
The presidents' meeting at the 17th-century Palace of Versailles, one of Europe's most opulent royal palaces, came at a time when relations between Paris and Moscow have reached one of their lowest points in decades, largely because of the war in Syria.
Putin shook hands with Bishop Nestor of Chersonese, the representative of the Moscow Patriarch in France.
Last week, Macron met North Atlantic Treaty Organisation allies and members of the G7.
Macron made no mention of Western sanctions on Russian Federation over Ukraine, though Putin repeated Moscow's view that their continued enforcement would not help stabilise the situation in Ukraine's east.
Macron stressed that dialogue with Russian Federation is vital in solving a number of worldwide disputes, RT reported. Yet Macron's not afraid to go up against with not-so-friendly types, which is why he pulled off a "not innocent" handshake with President Trump to ward off an Alpha-Omega relationship.
Following the public dressing down, however, Macron reportedly expressed interest in working with Russian Federation to solve the Syrian crisis.
In fact, Macron was inspired by Putin by blowing hot and cold, sometimes by inviting "to work together", sometimes by denouncing the "interference" of two Kremlin-funded media.
They also agree on defeating terrorism in Syria. Macron also urged a stepped-up "partnership" with Moscow in fighting the Islamic State group in the country.
Later Monday, Putin is to visit the center near the Seine River that includes the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
The Russian president said the most vital problem now facing the world is terrorism, and the only way to fight it is through worldwide cooperation.
The agenda of the talks covered a wide range of issues including the intensification of Russian-French political, economic and cultural cooperation and the situation in Ukraine, Syria and Libya and on the Korean peninsula.
Macron's warning of French retaliation in the event chemical weapons are used echo the "red line" policy used by the Donald Trump administration, who in April ordered cruise missile strikes in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack that Washington blamed on Damascus.
