Fear of DNA theft? Why the French President may have refused the Russian COVID test

As a result, the French head of state was kept at a distance from the Russian leader during lengthy talks on the Ukraine crisis in Moscow.

They were photographed at opposite ends of a table for so long that it provoked satirical remarks on social media and an estimateincluding diplomats, that Putin may be using it to send messages.

But two sources with knowledge of the French president’s health protocols told Reuters Macron he was given a choice: either accept a PCR test conducted by Russian officials and allow him to get closer to Putin, or be refused and more strict social rules be followed. Distance.

One of the sources told Reuters: “We were well aware that it didn’t mean a handshake and that long table. But we can’t accept that they got their hands on the president’s DNA.” French leader Tested by Russian doctors.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Macron had refused the test and said Russia had no problem with it, but that it meant a distance of 6 meters (20 ft) from Putin to protect the health of the Kremlin leader. distance was required.

“There is no politics in this, it does not interfere in talks in any way,” he said.

A second source in Macron’s crew said he instead took a French PCR test before departure and an antigen test once done by his own doctor in Russia.

“The Russians told us that Putin needed to be kept in a dire health bubble,” another source said.

Macron’s office said Russian health protocol “we found it to be either not acceptable or consistent with our diary constraints”, referring to the length of time needed to wait for the results.

Asked specifically about the DNA theft, Macron’s office said: “The president has doctors with him to define the rules that are acceptable or not in the context of his own health protocols.”

On Thursday, three days after the socially distanced meeting between Macron and Putin, the Russian leader received Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. The two men shook hands, and sat next to each other, only divided by a small coffee table.

This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.