German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has landed in Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin – but will not take a Russian coronavirus test before the meeting, MIA reported.
Instead, Scholz has decided to have a doctor from the German embassy carry out the PCR test – a requirement before entering the Kremlin.
Russian health officials have been invited to be present for the test, according to sources from the German delegation.
French President Emmanuel Macron also refused to take a Russian PCR test prior to his talks with Putin last week.
As a result, their talks took place at a six-meter-long white table to allow for drastic social-distancing measures. At the press conference that followed, the two leaders also stood several meters apart.
Scholz is meeting Putin for the first time on Tuesday, February 15, for talks about the Ukraine crisis.
Scholz said during his visit to Kyiv on Monday that he wanted to lobby Putin for de-escalation of the crisis in Ukraine. He described the deployment of tens of thousands of Russian soldiers along the Ukrainian border as “incomprehensible.” He also warned Russia against launching an attack on Ukraine and stressed that the EU and the US were prepared to respond with tough economic sanctions.
