Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron have questioned Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and cancellation of the US-North Korea summit during a meeting in Russia, reports The Telegraph.
Talking to reporters in St Petersburg, where they will speak on Friday at an annual economic forum, the Russian and French leaders reiterated their support for the Iran deal after the US departure.
“I was personally assured that Iran is fulfilling all its obligations, so the question arises what grounds there were to exit this agreement,” Mr Putin said. “We welcome the efforts of Iran and Europe to preserve this deal, while understanding that it will be hard.”
“Russia has never approved unilateral actions,” he added, referring to the renewed US sanctions against Iran. “Any action against a sovereign government can be taken only by United Nations security council, all the rest are illegitimate.”
Mr Macron called for efforts to limit North Korea's nuclear programme to continue despite Mr Trump's cancellation on Thursday of a planned meeting with Kim Jong-un.
“This process that was already launched to reduce tensions on the peninsula, and the process with the goal of denuclearisation, this process should continue,” Mr Macron said.
Asked about the finding of an international investigation on Friday that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed over Ukraine in 2014 by a Russian military missile, Mr Putin was at first confused “what plane you're talking about”.
Once this was clarified, he argued that Russia should be taking part in the investigation, even though it didn't lose any citizens in the tragedy as the other member states did.
“From the start we proposed to work jointly on the investigation but to our surprise they're not letting us into this investigation,” he said. “Ukraine is working there even though Ukraine violated international law and didn't close airspace over a conflict area, but Russia isn't.”
Major Western powers have largely avoided the St Petersburg economic forum since Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and was hit by EU and US sanctions in response.
But the mood was brighter this year as several oligarchs under sanctions gathered to sign major deals and “party like a Russian” at an after party headlined by Robbie Williams.
Even Mr Macron and Mr Putin had a chance to indulge themselves at a dinner featuring caviar, crab, sturgeon and venison.
The French president’s much-discussed meetings with his “friend” Mr Trump have yielded nothing tangible on key areas such as his American counterpart’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal.
Relations have nosedived in recent years over crises in Ukraine and Syria, as well as accusations of meddling in foreign elections and the poisoning of an ex-Russian spy in Britain.
Nonetheless, France remains the biggest international investor and the largest foreign employer in Russia, and Iran could provide an opportunity for rapprochement.