FRANCE and Germany cosy up to Russian tyrant Vladimir Putin too much, Jeremy Hunt is to declare today in a stinging rebuke of Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron.

In a speech in Washington the Foreign Secretary will demand the EU stands “shoulder to shoulder” with the UK and US in slapping fresh sanctions on Russia to deter further Putin-backed aggression.

He will urge the EU’s 27 members to ensure Western allies speak with "one voice" against transgressions by Moscow "whenever and wherever they occur, from the streets of Salisbury to the fate of Crimea".

His comments – on his first trip to the US as Foreign Secretary – come after leading European nations softened their stance on Moscow.

German Chancellor Ms Merkel met Mr Putin last weekend amid growing concerns Germany is going soft over a new Russian gas pipeline.

Meanwhile French president Emmanuel Macron travelled to St Petersberg to meet Mr Putin just weeks after Britain blamed Russia for the poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal.

Mr Macron called on Russia to work "hand-in-hand" with Europe.

Italy has questioned whether sanctions imposed over the 2014 annexation of Crimea should continue.

And Austria’s foreign minister Karin Kneissl was pictured dancing with Mr Putin at her wedding at the weekend.

In a message to European leaders Mr Hunt is expected to say today: "Of course we must engage with Moscow, but we must also be blunt: Russia's foreign policy under President Putin has made the world a more dangerous place.

"And today, the United Kingdom asks its allies to go further by calling on the European Union to ensure its sanctions against Russia are comprehensive, and that we truly stand shoulder to shoulder with the US.

"That means calling out and responding to transgressions with one voice whenever and wherever they occur, from the streets of Salisbury to the fate of Crimea."

But he risks a fresh rift with Donald Trump by chiding the US President over Iran and trade.

In a thinly-veiled attack on the US President he will warn of a multitude of threats to "international rules-based system that has kept us safe for decades" in his speech at the US Institute of Peace today.

Tomorrow Mr Hunt will met US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mr Trump’s son-in law and close aide Jared Kushner.