MOSCOW, April 28. /TASS/. Russia will propose a number of initiatives to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic, including in the social and economic spheres, to the BRICS bloc member nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa), Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at an informal meeting of the BRICS Foreign Minister Tuesday.
"We will present to you several Russian initiatives, aimed at allowing us to react more efficiently to the challenges, created by the coronavirus outbreak. We are talking not only about security and health, but also social, economic and financial spheres, labor markets, well-being of people, sustainable development goals," he said.
Lavrov proposed the BRICS nations to closely coordinate their efforts to fight the pandemic, including in the international structures.
"We have all necessary mechanisms and platforms for such work. This is, first and foremost, the United Nations and its organizations, as well as the G20, the World Health Organization, the World Trade Organization and others," he underscored.
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.