Putin wants to avoid a corona infection at all costs. That is why he takes special precautions during state visits. Scholz did not fully follow these.
Munich – He has three immense legs, is said to measure around six meters in length and is the secret star in Russia’s current conflict with the West. We are talking about the oversized table in the Kremlin, to which Vladimir Putin, after French President Emmanuel Macron, has now also asked Chancellor Olaf Scholz – for joint talks on the threatening situation in Ukraine as a result of the deployment of Russian forces on the border.
Saber breeds are part of Putin’s craft. Once again, the 69-year-old has managed to upset the entire western world. But even if a war is to be prevented by all means, the state guests do not dance obediently to the tune of the former KGB agent. Because, like Macron before him, Scholz also refused the required PCR test in Russia by Putin’s faithful.
Scholz with Putin: Kremlin boss is physically at a distance from the Chancellor
Hence the oversized table as a place of negotiation. Because of the corona virus, Russia’s ruler shows the respect that he sometimes lacks for other heads of state. In order not to expose oneself to the risk of infection, the distance to the conversation partners cannot be large enough. He accepts the oddity of the images sent out into the world.
But why did Scholz refuse his host the PCR test? His no doesn’t mean that he doesn’t trust the Russian test labs. The SPD politician also has no fears that his DNA could fall into the wrong hands in this way. After all, Moscow could get hold of it in other ways.
Scholz refuses PCR test by Russia: Moscow could still get DNA
“Actually, it shouldn’t be difficult to find a few hairs there,” reveals Florian Schimikowski in the Süddeutsche Zeitung with regard to the consequences of a state visit. The historian of the German Spy Museum in Berlin added: “Data is the new money. And DNA profiles are the most sensitive and personal data imaginable.”
However, Scholz is more concerned with the symbolism, it is said. For example, no foreign nation should fiddle around with a cotton swab in the Chancellor’s nose or throat. There was also a reference to international customs. ZDF correspondent Theo Kroll referred to reasons of “pride and self-determination”.
Scholz and the PCR test on the plane: the doctor at the German Embassy takes a smear
Angela Merkel’s successor had to endure a total of four tests in order to be admitted to Putin. So the safety precautions were immense. The Kremlin required three negative PCR tests in the days before entry from each member of the delegation and the journalists traveling with them – a group of more than 50 people in all.
Then there was the on-site test. A doctor from the German Embassy in Moscow did this for Scholz shortly after landing, which is why he only left the plane 40 minutes after it rolled out. The test device was brought from the Federal Republic. The Russian health authorities were invited to witness the sampling.
Kremlin on Putin’s test requirement: “Protect the health of our president and that of his guest”
A Kremlin spokesman emphasized that Scholz’s negative attitude had no impact on the talks. This affects “neither the character of the meeting nor the content or the duration”. However, he also explained: “Some follow their own rules. But in this case, health protocol will be applied to protect the health of our President and that of his guest.”
Other heads of state such as China’s Xi Jinping or the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko had recently allowed Putin to get much closer. Unlike Scholz. With that, Putin clearly distanced himself, at least in terms of space – even at the press conference. Knowing full well what symbolic images would result from it. Everything for health – at least officially. (mg)
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