Emmanuel Macron, the French president, will attempt to defuse tension with Russia over the Iran tanker crisis, Crimea, Syria and the Skripal poisoning in a controversial meeting with Vladimir Putin on Monday, reports The Telegraph.
Mr Macron has faced criticism for inviting the Russian leader to France while Mr Putin is intent on crushing opposition protests in Moscow and remains intransigent over Crimea and Syria.
Mr Putin, who will be received at the Fort de Bregançon, the presidential summer retreat on the Riviera, will not be attending the G7 summit in Biarritz, in south-western France, at the weekend. But Mr Macron will try to persuade him that better relations with western countries could help restore Russia’s place among the group of industrialised nations. It was suspended in 2014 from the G8, as it was then known, over its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
By meeting Mr Putin and Boris Johnson this week in the run-up to the summit, Mr Macron hopes to tackle what he sees as two key threats to the success of Europe. But shopkeepers and restaurateurs in Biarritz are demanding compensation for the summit. They say up to half their sales are usually in August but they will lose out because much of the Atlantic resort will be closed to holidaymakers for security reasons. They argue that the 6,500 delegates, support staff and journalists attending will not spend like tourists.
Mr Macron has promised “unprecedented security” for the Biarritz summit, warning that “violent French and European groups” plan to converge on Biarritz.
Anti-globalisation activists will be prevented from holding a planned “counter-summit” in Biarritz, but protesters have been given permission to meet 15 miles south of the city.
Christophe Castaner, the interior minister, said: “We are prepared for counter-demonstrations and if they are violent we will neutralise them.”
Mr Macron will report to his fellow G7 leaders on the outcome of his talks with Mr Putin. But many analysts believe the French president is unlikely to influence his Russian counterpart and some object to the talks.