MOSCOW, April 14. /TASS/. Western countries’ demands that China pay reparations for damages caused by the coronavirus pandemic are unacceptable, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an online interview with Russian and foreign media outlets on Tuesday.
"Allegations that China will have to pay for the fact that the virus originated there and they failed to inform others in due time go beyond all boundaries. I have heard that someone in London says that China has to pay three trillion and 700 billion dollars or euro to the European Union to offset the damage caused by the pandemic. Others call for seizing Chinese property overseas if China fails to pay reparations. My hair stands on end when I hear such things," the Russian top diplomat pointed out.
"It is completely unacceptable. Don’t judge others by yourself. We hear this sort of statements, first and foremost, from our Western colleagues," Lavrov noted. According to him, China does not focus solely on domestic developments but has been making every effort to help other countries and share its experience in combating the coronavirus.
Coronavirus pandemic
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.
On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 1,900,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 119,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 453,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.