The long distance that separated Russian President Vladimir Putin from French Emmanuel Macron during a meeting on Monday (7), which generated satire on social media, had reason: Macron did not want to carry out a Russian RT-PCR test to detect the coronavirus out of fear that their DNA would be stolen. That’s why Moscow’s diplomacy kept him away from Putin.
The information was confirmed to the Reuters news agency by two members of Macron’s entourage. One of them said the team knew the decision would entail no handshake and the use of a long table, but stressed that the French could not accept Russian doctors having contact with Macron’s DNA.
The Kremlin confirmed that Macron was kept away from Putin because he refused to carry out a Russian test. Spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said he understood the French position, but that it was necessary to protect the Russian leader from an eventual coronavirus infection. So, he said, the two sat at opposite ends of a 5-meter-long table.
Another member of the entourage told Reuters that Macron had a PCR test in France, before boarding to Russia, and an antigen test when arriving in the country – done by his doctor. According to this diplomat, the Russians said Putin needed to be kept in a “restricted bubble”.
Macron’s office said Russian protocol would not be acceptable or compatible with the president’s daily restrictions. Asked about the fear of theft of genetic information, the authorities limited themselves to saying that the French leader has doctors who define with him the acceptable rules regarding his health protocol.
The Kremlin table has already been used by Putin in conversations with premiers and football players. Three days after the meeting with Macron, by the way, the Russian had a meeting with the president of Kazakhstan, Kassim-Jomart Tokayev, in which the protocol was quite different: they shook hands and sat down next to each other, separated only by a small table. center.
Macron went to Russia as part of a diplomatic effort to ease tensions on the border with Ukraine, where Moscow is massing troops. After a conversation lasting more than five hours, Putin reaffirmed demands that NATO, the Western military alliance, forget about Ukraine, and Macron, that the West does not accept such a demand.
The Russian leader, however, said that “some of his ideas [de Macron]which it is probably too early to talk about, it is quite possible that they will form the basis of our next joint steps”.
The Frenchman also traveled to Moscow as part of a domestic effort as presidential elections, scheduled for April, approach. The president has yet to officially launch his candidacy, but he is expected to seek re-election and leads the polls.
The departure of Angela Merkel, Vladimir Putin’s closest interlocutor in the 16 years in which the two leaders coincided in power, from the command of Germany, also weighed in the equation. Macron seeks to assume the role of spokesman for Western European interests.
