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Kremlin says countries should drop accusations and join efforts to fight COVID-19

The spokesman likened the trading accusations policy to a game of table tennis, citing its uselessness
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, April 15. /TASS/. The Kremlin disapproves of ‘playing table tennis’ through mutual accusations and wants to see countries join their efforts to tackle the coronavirus crisis, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a comment on China’s Global Times daily's article claiming that China is facing the threat of a second wave of infection as people are returning from Russia.

"We hear that various countries exchange such criticism about coronavirus, which is reminiscent of a table tennis game. We think that there’s little use in it. On the contrary, Moscow is a supporter of uniting globally to counter the coronavirus," Peskov noted.

The spokesman added that Moscow does not agree with such accusations. "In any case, we cannot agree with this criticism, if there was criticism voiced in that newspaper," he said, clarifying that he is not aware of the article in question.

UN call for ceasefire

The spokesman pledged that the Kremlin would make a statement on the initiative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on a global ceasefire in order to combat the coronavirus as soon as diplomats consider this issue. "They must be working out this issue at a working level before joining it," Peskov said. "As soon as the effort is carried out and coordinated with other partners, we will make the respective statements."

On March 23, the UN chief called on the parties involved in regional armed conflicts to immediately halt combat actions and declare a ceasefire and a humanitarian pause amid the growing spread of the coronavirus across the world. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that this call for ceasefire amid the spreading coronavirus infection should be heard by all parties to regional armed conflicts in order to avoid a humanitarian crisis of a global scale.

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 2,000,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 126,800 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 485,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

To date, a total of 24,490 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 1,986 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 198 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.