struck him as different. stiffer and isolated. than he had been in the past. and few western leaders have seen as much of vladimir putin the last few years at macron. the russian president was one of the first foreign leaders to visit macron. after his election in 2017. at versailles. and russian leader visited him again during his summer break in the south of france. in 2019. and again at the palace in december of that same year. that was the last time he had seen putin. until he met with him in moscow. sources say by then, he found himself opposite a man who was much changed. macron felt putin was now an ideology drift. no longer the man he met in december of 2019. by saturday putin was once again making televised remarks. referring to ukraine leadership. as a nazi or fascist regime.