Scholz, after Macron, declines Kremlin Covid test: source

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz declined a Kremlin-administered Covid test on a visit to Moscow on Tuesday, opting for a swab from one of Berlin’s own doctors, a German government source told AFP.

Scholz “received a test from a German embassy doctor” upon arrival in Moscow, the official said on condition of anonymity.

All members of the German delegation were required to take three PCR tests in the four days before departure.

The daily Bild reported that Moscow agreed to the exception if the PCR test was administered on Scholz’s government plane under the supervision of a Russian doctor.

The move followed a similar decision by French President Emmanuel Macron during talks in Russia last week, which prompted the Kremlin to place him at an enormously long table for his talks with Vladimir Putin.

Scholz was seen seated with Putin at the same table on Tuesday.

Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peksov said at the time the decision to subject Macron to the huge table was taken after the French leader refused to take a Covid test performed by the Kremlin’s medics.

“It is linked to the fact that some follow their own rules, they don’t cooperate with the host side,” he said.

Scholz is seeking to help foster a diplomatic solution to avoid a war in Ukraine as Russia signalled tentative hopes of an easing in the tense standoff.

The Kremlin earlier confirmed the pullback of some Russian forces from Ukraine’s borders but said the move was planned and stressed Russia would continue to move troops across the country as it saw fit.