French President Emmanuel Macron used his visit to the U.S. to publicly push back on President Donald Trump's repeated attacks on Ukraine.

Sitting beside the French president, Mr Trump pointedly declined to call Vladimir Putin a dictator, saying “I don’t use those words lightly.” Mr Macron seemed cautiously upbeat about his visit to the White House.

The meeting between French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump was a spectacle of thigh-patting, prolonged hand-holding and other touch-heavy displays that have become a signature of their public appearances.

Macron used his extensive repertoire of compliments, tactile body language and handshakes that never seemed to end on “Dear Donald.” And he even got away with correcting him in the Oval Office over his false claims that Washington had almost doubled Europe’s support for Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he will travel to Washington to try to convince President Donald Trump that his interests were in line with European allies and that showing any weakness to Russia's Vladimir Putin would make it harder to deal with China and Iran.