MOSCOW, May 12. /TASS/. Russia is not refusing assistance from foreign partners, including EU members and the United States, to fight the spread of the coronavirus, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Tuesday, following a video conference of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Council of Foreign Ministers.
"We accept help from foreign countries, particularly willing to receive it from European Union members. We are already accepting support and help from the US," he noted.
"In the current situation when we are all confronted with common trouble and when we need to help each other out and support one another, I would not like to see attempts at taking advantage of this situation to settle accounts and to secure positions in the post-virus world by, let’s say, not very acceptable means, unilaterally and not in a just manner," the minister continued.
Lavrov emphasized that there is a lot of talk in the EU about alleged reproaches from outside the union that it is incapable of handling the coronavirus pandemic. "They [in Brussels] created a strategic communication group called ‘East’, this group is actively looking for external enemies, for those who are trying to question the EU capabilities of handling such challenges," he recalled. "They name, of course, Russia, China and certain other countries."
"I cannot recall a single statement of Russian officials saying that the European Union turned out to be incapable of tackling the pandemic," the top diplomat stressed. "We express solidarity with the EU, just as with other countries, and provide help for EU countries interested in receiving such assistance."