President of Russia Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping before negotiations did not shake hands not because of “politics”, but in an effort to “avoid some dangers, complications due to the coronavirus.” It was a request from the protocol service of the Chinese side, he said in an interview with Pavel Zarubin on the air of the program “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” Vladislav Kitaev, head of protocol for the President of Russia.
“Of course, everything was agreed and agreed in advance. Our Chinese colleagues asked us to do without a handshake. We did not find anything criminal in this,” Kitaev said on the air of the Rossiya 1 TV channel.
According to Kitaev, aides to former German Chancellor Angela Merkel also asked the Russians to remove the handshake from the greeting. In a pandemic, such wishes are no longer uncommon, the head of the presidential protocol added.
“We got out of the situation by giving her a bouquet of flowers,” Kitaev said.
As for the attitude of the heads of state to the restrictions, Kitaev noted that “our president is benevolent.”
“He always goes to meet their wishes,” the Kremlin spokesman said.
Before the visit of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin to China, the protocol service inspected the venues of the events online.
The protocol service employees organized the broadcast, Vladislav Kitaev explained, and all interested parties watched it: press services, security, etc.
“Expectations did not deceive us: it coincided,” Kitaev noted.
According to Kitaev, pandemic brought significant changes to the organization of the work of President Putin – for two years now, 80 percent of events with his participation have been held online. Kitaev stressed that the president changed his mind to such a mode of operation “instantly.”
According to Vladislav Kitaev, President Vladimir Putin was the main guest at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.
“Our Chinese colleagues have repeatedly stressed, and this event once again confirmed that the Russian President was the main guest at this event, at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games,” said the head of the protocol service.
Colleagues from China tried to make this visit as comfortable as possible for Putin.
“But the main result – the visit of our president to China – I think is positive, and the audience could see it, make sure of it,” Kitaev concluded.
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