French President Emmanuel Macron said that he intends to tell U.S. counterpart Donald Trump that it's in the joint interest of Americans and Europeans not to “be weak” in the face of Russian leader Vladimir Putin amid U.

Macron said in a social media Q&A that he would warn Trump against appearing weak to Russian President Vladimir Putin. It comes after the US held direct talks with Russia for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

At a meeting at the White House, President Trump declined to call President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a dictator while President Emmanuel Macron of France stated flatly that “the aggressor is Russia.