The Kremlin confirmed on Friday that French President Emmanuel Macron had distanced himself from President Vladimir Putin in talks this week because the French leader refused to take a COVID-19 test before their meeting.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov said he understood the French position and that decisions were made out of the need to protect the Russian president at the meeting, and that the two leaders were sitting at opposite ends of a four-meter-long table.
He noted that this was not a political issue and did not affect the talks.
Observers were surprised by the published photos, where Macron and Putin were sitting on opposite sides of a 4-meter-long table to discuss the Ukraine crisis on Monday, with some diplomats and others arguing that Putin may have wanted to send a diplomatic message.
But the two sources, who know the French president’s health protocol, told Reuters that Macron was given a choice: either accept a PCR test submitted by the Russian authorities and be allowed to sit close to Putin. or, if he refused, he would have to follow stricter rules of social distancing.
“We knew very well that this meant no handshakes and (to sit) at a long table. “But we could not accept access to the president’s DNA,” a source told Reuters, referring to security concerns if the French president was tested by Russian doctors.
A Kremlin spokesman has not yet responded to a Reuters message for comment.
A second source close to the French leader confirmed that Macron had refused to undergo a Russian PCR test. The source said that instead Emanuel Macron underwent a French PCR test before his departure and an antigen test was performed by his own doctor as soon as he arrived in Russia.
“The Russians told us that Putin must remain in a strict health bubble,” the second source explained.
Follow Skai.gr on Google News
and be the first to know all the news
