Luxor4u

President Macron of France today invited President Putin of Russia to the palace of Versailles....300 years after Peter the Great went there.

They had an interesting chat, followed by a brief press conference.

The meeting seems to have contrasted significantly with the recent one between Trump and his new BFF, King Salman of Saudi Arabia...an all round nice chap and, in Trump's words, "A very, very, wise man. Very wise.". Trump came away from his meeting having pledged $110 billion by way of an arms deal...which will help boost the Saudi slaughter in Yemen and, perhaps, further arm ISIS and other terrorist groups in Syria.

The issue of human rights in Saudi Arabia was not raised.

In contrast, and presumably not to Putin's liking, Macron raised the issue of the persecution of gay men in Chechnya and said that any further use of chemical weapons in Syria would be met by French "reprisals".

Possible meddling by Russia in the French elections was not discussed...but raised by a reporter in the subsequent conference. All fake news according to Putin....notwithstanding his Kremlin meeting with Marine Le Pen in March.

http://www.haaretz.com/world-news/europe/1.792600

The BBC commentary was:

Many seasoned commentators were surprised by Marcon’s maturity, poise and firmness.

The body language was forced, formal and cold.

The Russian media/propaganda outlets are supporting a formal line that Marcon is ‘pragmatic’. They are reluvtant to criticize him at this stage.

Marcon was able to walk a fine line between directness and identification of differences but preparedness to do some business/leave the door ajar. He seemed uninterested in playing to the cheap seats.

Journalists and commentators are said to be ‘fascinated’ and ‘intrigued’ by him.

His clear policy is to return France to a major position in the world.
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Its very early days, and he might be just be all front, but he is exceeding expectations at this stage and making others look coarse, inept and erratic, Trump, or shrill and not very bright, May. He behaves as someone on whom power sits comfortably. LBJ always said that power ‘reveals’.

As you say....early days for Macron and he's got a lot of expectations to live up to.

The easy bit was beating Le Pen. I'm sure if I brushed up my French, donned a beret and slung some onions round my neck, so could I.

Now for the tricky bit....i.e. everything else.