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Russia ready to help Turkey in battle against COVID-19, says deputy prime minister

At talks with Turkish colleagues, Golikova emphasized the importance of developing cooperation between Russia and Turkey

MOSCOW, May 17./TASS/. Russia is ready to lend all necessary assistance to Turkey in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic, including through launching the production of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in Turkey, journalists learned at the office of Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova on Monday.

"Russia is ready to provide all necessary assistance to Turkey," the office quoted the deputy prime minister as saying. "First of all, we are talking about launching industrial production of the Sputnik V vaccine in Turkey," it added, citing Golikova as saying that the process of mass inoculation will lead to victory over coronavirus.

At talks with Turkish colleagues, Golikova emphasized the importance of developing cooperation between Russia and Turkey. "We are interested in developing actively Russian-Turkish relations, in expanding cooperation in trade, economy, industry and cutting-edge technologies. We will be jointly advancing major projects on the energy, transport, infrastructure and digital tracks," the deputy prime minister stressed.

In a phone call with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on May 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Russia’s readiness to ensure supplies of Sputnik V to Turkey.

Russia was the world’s first to register an anti-coronavirus vaccine on August 11, 2020. The jab, developed by the Russian Health Ministry’s Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, was dubbed Sputnik V. It is a vector vaccine based on the human adenovirus.

In early February 2020, The Lancet, a world-acclaimed medical journal, published the results of the third phase of Sputnik V’s clinical tests. The jab has proved to be among the world’s safest and most efficient.