Emmanuel Macron was in Moscow on Monday to meet Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin and try to begin a de-escalation in the Ukrainian crisis.
On February 1, Viktor Orban also went to Moscow to discuss with the Russian president. Like Emmanuel Macron on Monday, the Hungarian Prime Minister sat at the monumental table at which Vladimir Putin receives major foreign dignitaries. One wonders how the guests manage to get along!
At the end of their meeting, during which Putin showed strong cordiality towards the Hungarian, the latter began his press conference by saying: “I was sitting at the biggest discussion table that I ‘ve never seen.” It wasn’t quite in the tone of a joke, but more of a slight skepticism about the need for such a facility! He did not necessarily have to complain, because at the end of the bilateral summit many Russian investment projects, in nuclear and rail, were announced.
Subsequently, Viktor Orban spoke to Emmanuel Macron on the phone, in a kind of personalized debrief. No European capital has castigated the Hungarian for this trip which should have been seen as an act of disloyalty towards the solidarity of the 27.
A week later, Emmanuel Macron therefore sat in the same place as Orban. The discussions will certainly be much longer than with Orban. One wonders if at some point the two will occupy more comfortable couches.
The famous table in question has, in any case, greatly amused Internet users.
Table Tennis World Championship #Putin #Macron pic.twitter.com/uzZo3t28Qe
– Thibault with your mask (@Dard2Ville) February 7, 2022
#Putin when his advisers told him that #Macron came to overturn the table. https://t.co/6noavHw4Zo
—Elvis (@SlyBoss) February 7, 2022
You can curl on the table of Macron and Poutine pic.twitter.com/qhJJBHWkWR
— Fabien (@FDalvy) February 7, 2022