They did not find in the Kremlin a longer or more oval or more horrifying table, with these three legs filled with columns that support the mass of glass and lacquered wood in whose center there is a bouquet of daisies. It is easy to imagine Putin’s order to the protocol service: “Let it be the longest and most oval table possible, inscribed on an oval carpet that emphasizes its majesty & rdquor ;. She didn’t say the most horrifying, because, given her aesthetic tastes, it’s very likely that I don’t consider her as ugly as she seems to me. The idea – in case it wasn’t clear – was emphasize the enormous distance between the heir to the tsars and the heir to the emperor, now reconverted into a standard-bearer for peace and manager of one of the assets that will allow him not to stop being president. At such a table, one can speak of a “critical situation” and “traumatisms” like someone playing briscola and one can say “equitable security in Europe for a serious historical perspective”. Like someone saying that the stew is missing a bit of salt. I think the table was like this so that the next day we could headline: “Putin and Macron bring positions closer & rdquor ;. There comes a time when they can only get close, from as far away as they are.