President Macron feared Russians wanted to steal his DNA

PARIS, France

France’s President, Emmanuel Macron, flew to Russia as part of fronting negotiating with Russians to leave war option on Ukraine and settle their grievances in a peaceful manner.

Table separating Macron and Putin was so long due to Macron's reported fears over Russian spying via PCR test

However, as a requirement President Macron was supposed to take a covid-19 test before meeting President Vladimir Putin but Macron rejected being subjected to the test and was therefore kept at a distance from the Russian leader.

Sources, who have knowledge of the French president’s health protocol, told media that Macron had been given a choice: either he accepted a PCR test done by the Russian authorities and was allowed to get close to Putin, or he refused and had to abide by more stringent social distancing.

“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,” one of the sources told media, referring to security concerns if the French leader was tested by Russian doctors.

Russia’s leader brought in a five-metre table and held up by three thick pillars for one-on-one meeting with President Macron.

After five hours of talks at the white table, Macron failed to extract any public concessions from Putin. Speculation has risen that the table was a show of power to subdue Macron, perhaps even the physical expression of a snub.

The source said Macron instead took a French PCR test before departure and an antigen test done by his own doctor once in Russia.

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

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

The Kremlin continues to require those meeting with Putin to quarantine for two weeks despite claiming that the Russian leader has received his vaccinations and booster shot.

There is one person Putin has got close to, despite his Covid concerns. At the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing this month, he and Xi Jinping stood for the cameras within hugging distance of each other, a symbol of their powerful alliance as tensions rise with the west.