Speculation about endless table
Why Putin and Macron sat so far apart
02/11/2022, 8:18 p.m
The strange scene between French President Macron and Kremlin boss Putin at the endless table: People wonder, joke about it or shake their heads because they suspect Russia’s renewed provocation towards the West behind it. But now the Kremlin has come out with a statement that says otherwise.
When asked what will be remembered from the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and French Head of State Emmanuel Macron on Monday in Moscow, in many cases this answer will certainly come up: the table. The white, decorated endless board, on which Putin placed Macron at a safe distance of six meters, noticeably distracted from the serious content of the conversation about the Ukraine crisis.
circulated on the internet countless memes and jokes about the table, in political circles the arrangement raised questions. Apparently the Kremlin and the Élysée Palace felt compelled to make an explanation.
Kremlin presents Macron as a corona test refuser
Putin’s spokesman Dmitri Peskov justified the great distance between the two heads of state on Friday with the Kremlin’s Corona protocol. Macron refused to undergo a PCR test in Russia. And further: “Some follow their own rules. But in this case, a health protocol is applied to protect the health of our president and that of his guest,” says Peskow.
The procedure has no political reason, emphasized Peskow. The physical distance “does not affect the negotiations in any way”. It had previously been speculated whether the distance was intended to symbolize Putin’s cool attitude toward Macron.
Putin, who maintains extremely extreme measures to protect against the corona virus, has also allowed some foreign heads of state and government to get closer to him in recent weeks. However, they had apparently agreed to a Russian PCR test.
“Choose the other option”
Macron refused. The Russian conditions, which would have allowed a closer conversation between the two heads of state, would have imposed a health protocol “that we found neither acceptable nor compatible with the constraints of our agenda,” the Élysée said. “We have opted for the other option proposed by the Russian protocol.”
Six days before Macron’s visit, Putin spoke to Hungarian Prime Minister Orban at the same table.
(Photo: picture alliance / AA)
The strange scene at the endless table was a godsend for many Internet users. Memes – i.e. satirically composed and virally distributed content – flooded the Russian online world in particular. In one picture, the huge table became one Table tennis table, the two heads of state each held a bat in their hands. In another meme, the creators put the participants of the famous painting “The Last Supper” with Putin and Macron at the table.
Incidentally, Macron was not the only one who had to sit down at the six-meter table. Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi also held their talks with Putin there. Chancellor Olaf Scholz is expected in Moscow on Tuesday. The question is where he will sit then.