French President Macron refused Russian COVID test over fears of DNA theft by Putin regime

The French leader was in Moscow to discuss the tense situation in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron (R) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) in Moscow on February 7, 2022, for talks in an effort to find common ground on Ukraine and NATO
By Sophie Mann

French President Emmanuel Macron refused to take a Russian COVID-19 test at the request of the Kremlin upon his arrival earlier this week to see Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Macron did not want the foreign nation to be in possession of his DNA, according to Reuters.

Due to his refusal, Macron was kept at a physical distance from Putin throughout their talks about Ukraine. 

The two leaders were photographed at the ends of a cartoonishly long table discussing diplomatic questions about the region in crisis due to the behavior of Moscow. 

Putin has amassed troops along the Ukraine border in response to what he perceives as Western intrusion into counties surrounding Russia that were once part of the Soviet bloc. 

Macron was reportedly given the choice between submitting to a Russian PCR test or having to abide by a more stringent social distancing protocol with Putin.

"We knew very well that meant no handshake and that long table," a source in Macron's entourage told Reuters. "But we could not accept that they get their hands on the president's DNA."

Macron and his office did not publicly comment on concerns about the potential theft of his DNA by Russians. The French president reportedly took a PCR test in France and an antigen test administered by his own doctor once in Russia.