Emmanuel Macron Sat Across Putin At Long Table After French President Refused COVID Test Over DNA Theft Fears – Report
Russia has on Friday said French President Emmanuel Macron was made to sit at an enormously long table for his talks with Vladimir Putin because he refused to take COVID-19 test.
According to two sources in Macron’s entourage told Reuters, the refusal was to prevent Russia getting hold of the French president’s DNA.
As a result, the visiting French head of state was kept at a distance from the Russian leader when Macron went to Moscow with a mission to defuse fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine on Monday.
They were photographed at opposite ends of a table so long that it provoked satirical comment on social media and speculation, including by diplomats, that Putin might be using it to send a message.
Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peksov said the decision to subject Macron to the huge table was taken after the French leader refused to take a COVID-19 test performed by the Kremlin’s medics.
Peskov said;
Talks with some are being held at a long table, the distance (across the table) is about six meters. It is linked to the fact that some follow their own rules, they don’t cooperate with the host side.
In such cases, he said, the Kremlin has to take “additional sanitary protocol on protecting the health of our president and his guests.”
Peskov stated that the decision on who is subjected to the long table is not political, adding; “There is no politics here and this in no way interferes with negotiations.”
He said that if medics from both sides of diplomatic meetings cooperate, then “Putin communicates with his guests directly, sitting very close and shaking hands.”
A source in Macron’s entourage told AFP that the French president “did everything as he had to as always when he travels.”
Without going into full details, a French presidential official, who asked not to be named, confirmed that the issue has come about over the conditions of the PCR test demanded by the Russian side.
Two sources who have knowledge of the French president’s health protocol told Reuters Macron had been given a choice: either accept a PCR test done by the Russian authorities and be allowed to get close to Putin, or refuse and have to abide by more stringent social distancing.
“We knew very well that meant no handshake and that long table. But we could not accept that they get their hands on the president’s DNA,” one of the sources told Reuters, referring to security concerns if the French leader was tested by Russian doctors.
When asked specifically about DNA theft, Macron’s office said;
The president has doctors who define with him the rules that are acceptable or not in terms of his own health protocol.
Under Russia’s current COVID-19 rules, foreigners travelling to Russia are required to take a PCR test before a flight to the country but do not have to take one on arrival.
