"My clients have waited three years, Mr Putin. There is still no accountability," Jerome Skinner, the American lawyer, said.

Donald Trump and Emanuel Macron have taken very different positions in areas such as climate change and trade.

Apple also said that it had strong data privacy and security protections in place. "No backdoors will be created into any of our systems," it said.

Almost all defectors to the South go to China first and then on to a third country before travelling to the South.