Emmanuel Macron refused a request from the Kremlin to take a Russian Covid test ahead of his meeting with Vladimir Putin - supposedly to prevent the country obtaining his DNA.
refused a request from the Kremlin to take a Russian Covid test ahead of his meeting with Vladimir Putin to prevent the country obtaining his DNA, it has been reported.Ukraine
Two sources with knowledge of Mr Macron’s health protocol told Reuters he had been given a choice: either accept a PCR test done by the Russian authorities and be allowed to get close to Mr Putin, or refuse and have to abide by more stringent social distancing. But he added that it meant the French president had to maintain a six-metre distance in order to safeguard Mr Putin’s health.
A second source in Macron’s entourage said he instead took a French PCR test before departure and an antigen test done by his own doctor once in Russia, adding: ‘The Russians told us Putin needed to be kept in a strict health bubble.’