Why There Was No Handshake During the Putin-Xi Jinping Meeting

The meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping was held without a handshake at the request of the Chinese side due to the COVID-related situation, said Russian presidential representative Vladislav Kitaev during an interview with journalist Pavel Zarubin on "Rossiya 1," as reported by RIA Novosti.

During the interview, Kitaev was asked why Putin and Xi did not shake hands during their meeting, despite the fact that handshakes have always taken place in the past.

“Well, first of all, not always. When Mrs. Merkel came to our country last August, we received a similar request from her staff. We resolved the situation by presenting her with a bouquet of flowers. That was, of course, coordinated in advance. In this case, our Chinese partners also requested to hold the meeting without a handshake. We see no offense in this. And agree, that is how it is. The President was well aware that there should be no exchanges of handshakes with the Chinese President,” said Kitaev.