The surprise visit to inaugurate the exhibition celebrating the 1717 visit of Peter the Great to France comes after complaints from the Macron camp that Russia was involved in a string of hack attacks against his campaign headquarters ahead of his May 7 election.

It comes seven months after Mr Putin, 64, cancelled a trip to Paris for the opening of a Russian cathedral complex near the Eiffel Tower and a landmark art exhibition, due to a spat with then president Francois Hollande.

The former French Socialist leader had accused Russia of war crimes for bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo.