Macron refuses to take the Russia test for Covid
Written byTimes Magazine
The Kremlin confirmed that French President Emmanuel Macron rejected Russian tests for Covid-19 ahead of his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The tests required unacceptable health protocols and did not fit into the French leader's schedule; a French source told the news. There are reports that Macron has turned down the PCR test out of concern Russia might get his DNA.
They did not shake hands and sat with a table four meters long between them, and observers wondered if Putin was using it to send diplomatic messages.
However, a French diplomatic source told Reuters that Macron had been instructed to choose between Russia's PCR test to get closer to Putin or follow strict social distancing rules.
"We know very well that this means no handshakes and this long exhibition. But we cannot accept that they have the DNA of the President," a source told Reuters.
The source did not specify how Russia's intelligence services could use Macron's DNA. An Elysee Palace source told the news: "The conditions imposed on the gathering to be held without social distancing require health protocols which we believe are unacceptable and do not fit into the President's schedule."
The Kremlin has confirmed that The Russian leader shunned macron for refusing to take the Russian test. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia understood France's position and was not influencing the talks.
Macron took a PCR test before leaving France, and his doctor did an antigen test after he was in Moscow, another French diplomatic source told Reuters. "Russia has told us that Putin needs to be kept in a tight health bubble," a second source told Reuters.
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