Many raised an eyebrow this week when they were exposed to photos from a meeting between Russian President Putin and French President Macron, who sat at two ends of a 4-meter-long table and did not even shake hands at all, neither before nor after. Compared to Macron, the President of Kazakhstan who visited the next day received a handshake and a close sitting • And this is the explanation
Russian President Vladimir Putin, sitting a few meters away from French President Emanuel Macron, because Macron refused to undergo a Russian corona check. Macron refused the Kremlin’s request when he arrived this week to meet with President Vladimir Putin, so he sat at a distance from the Russian leader, while the president of Kazakhstan sat next to Putin.
Two sources close to Macron told Reuters that the French president did not agree to a Russian corona check and in a document released by the Kremlin, everyone was surprised to see pictures of Macron and Putin sitting at the other end of a 4-meter table to discuss the crisis with Ukraine last Monday. . Some diplomats have suggested that Putin may have wanted to send a diplomatic message to the world.
Putin-Macron meeting. (Kremlin spokeswoman).
But two sources, who have knowledge of the French president’s health condition, told Reuters news agency that Macron was given a choice: either he would do a PCR test by the Russian authorities and then be able to get closer to Putin, or he would have to face a stricter social distance.
“We knew very well it meant no handshake, and we would get that long table. But we could not accept that they were getting their hands on the president’s DNA,” one source told Reuters, referring to security concerns if the French leader was examined by Russian doctors.
A Kremlin spokesman did not respond to a request for comment from Reuters. The second source in Makron’s environment confirmed that Makron refused to undergo a Russian PCR test. The source said Macron instead took a French PCR test before leaving and an antigen test done by his doctor in Russia. “The Russians have told us that Putin should be kept in strict health,” the second source said.
On Thursday, three days after Makron and Putin’s distant social meeting, Russia’s leader received Kazakh President Qassem Tukayev. The two men shook hands, and sat next to each other, with the separation of a small coffee table.
Putin-Tukayev meeting. (Kremlin Spokeswoman)
As you may recall, Emanuel Macron traveled to Moscow last Monday in an effort to maintain hope for a peaceful solution to the conflict between Russia and the West over Ukraine. At the same time, German Chancellor Olaf Schultz met with US President Joe Biden in Washington and they also discussed the tense situation on the Ukraine-Russia border.
Putin thanked Macron for the visit and said: “I see some efforts being made by the current leadership of France and the president personally to resolve the crisis related to providing security in Europe for a serious historical perspective.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the visit between the two leaders “very important”, saying “the situation is too complex to expect a decisive breakthrough after just one meeting”.
The French president said at the meeting: “The critical situation in Europe is our common concern, and our continent is in a critical situation, so we all need to act very responsibly.”
Putin and Tokaev shake hands. (Kremlin Spokeswoman)