French President Emmanuel Macron refused to get a Covid test after arriving in Moscow for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported citing sources.
The publication noted the French president was offered the option of either taking a PCR test in order to get closer to Putin or observing social distancing precautions. Macron opted to do the latter, allegedly over concerns his DNA samples would end up in the hands of Russian doctors.
“We knew very well that meant no handshake and that long table. But we could not accept that they get their hands on the president’s DNA,” a source said as citied by Reuters.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Emmanuel Macron refused to take Russian PCR COVID-19 test.
Macron arrived in Moscow on Monday, where he held five hours of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During the meeting, the presidents discussed the situation in Ukraine and Russia’s security guarantees.
According to the French president, they managed to find some common ground on Ukraine, and agreed to have a follow-up phone call soon after his talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kiev the following day.
Source: Agencies
