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- BBC News World
image source, Archyde.com
The presidents of Russia and France held a meeting in Moscow on Monday, February 7.
The huge table that separated the presidents of Russia and France, Vladimir Putin and Emmanuel Macron, when they met last Monday in the Kremlin took social networks by storm.
The images and memes of both leaders separated by that four-meter-long table probably generated more comments than the central theme of their meeting: the crisis on the Ukraine border.
The apparently disproportionate meson was not only a source of ridicule, but also of thoughtful analysis by experts in non-verbal communication. Some of them They pointed out that it was a diplomatic message that the Kremlin was sending to Macron.
However, the real reason was something else: the French president had refused to take a PCR test required by the Russian authorities as a precondition for being able to approach Putin, as confirmed by the Kremlin.
That protocol was unacceptable and did not fit with Macron’s scheduled activities, French sources told the BBC.
In contrast, the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro will have to undergo five tests of this type if he wants to get closer to Putin during his visit to Moscow scheduled for next week.
Details of Macron’s visit to the Kremlin emerged following reports circulated that the French president refused to undergo a PCR test for fear that the Russians would obtain samples of his DNA.
The result was that both leaders held a meeting marked by strict social distancing measures: they did not shake hands or physically approach each other and remained separated by the huge inn.
French diplomatic sources told Archyde.com that Macron had to choose between doing the Russian PCR to get closer to Putin or accepting these social distancing measures.
“We knew well that meant there would be no handshake and that long table, but we mightn’t accept them getting the president’s DNA,” one of the sources told Archyde.com, without explaining how Russia’s secret services might profit. of Macron’s DNA.
The Kremlin confirmed that Macron had been kept at arm’s length from Putin because he had declined to take the Russian test.
Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he understood France’s position and that it had not affected the talks.
Macron had undergone a PCR test before leaving France and was given an antigen test by his doctors once he arrived in Moscow, another French diplomatic source told Archyde.com.
“The Russians told us that Putin needed to be kept in a strict health bubbleThis second source told Archyde.com.
Bolsonaro’s evidence
Macron is not the only president to have been subjected to the Kremlin’s “long table” diplomacy. Earlier this year, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi also had to keep a long distance from Putin during their respective visits to Moscow.
image source, Getty Images
If he wants to repeat this image, taken in 2019, Bolsonaro will have to undergo several PCRs.
Ahead of the visit that Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will make to Moscow next week, the Kremlin has also demanded that the president and his entire delegation undergo strict health checks.
According to the guidelines sent by the Kremlin to the Brazilian government, to which BBC News Brasil had access, Bolsonaro and those who accompany him will have to undergo up to five PCR tests.
One of these will take place between three and four hours before the meeting with Putin.
The BBC consulted the Brazilian presidency and foreign ministry to find out if Bolsonaro will agree to submit to these Kremlin requirements, but none of these institutions confirmed it.
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