Macron says he is not 'obsessed' with Putin summit after Franco-German proposal rejected

French President Emmanuel Macron gives a press conference on the second day of a EU summit at the European Council building in Brussels, Belgium June 25, 2021. Stephanie Lecocq/Pool via REUTERS

PARIS (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron defended on Friday a failed attempt by France and Germany to hold an EU summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, after eastern European leaders shot down the initiative they said would send the wrong message to Moscow.

The meeting proposed by Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which have both sought to take a less confrontational attitude with Russia in recent years, fractured EU leaders gathered in Brussels along an old East-West divide.