MOSCOW, May 14./TASS/. Accusations hurled at Russia and China for spreading ‘disinformation’ about COVID-19 is nothing but the West demonstrating its anti-Russian and anti-Chinese prejudice, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an online report to the Valdai International Discussion Club on Thursday.

"An attempt to paint the medical aid provided by Russia and the People’s Republic of China as a bid to use humanitarian assistance as means for strengthening geopolitical influence" is a new manifestation of Russophobic and Sinophobic sentiment that has been actively cultivated by certain Western countries of late," he specified. "We can once again hear the hastily reshaped accusations of some hybrid operations, engaged in disseminating misinformation about coronavirus," the diplomat stressed.

Ryabkov said that he was surprised to watch certain states looking for culprits instead of teaming up in the face of the pandemic. According to the diplomat, what really raises alarm bells is a bid to use the coronavirus issue as a pretext for disregarding international law to settle accounts with undesirable governments and geopolitical rivals.

"In our opinion, the loss of political, economic, humanitarian and geopolitical leadership by the Atlantic camp encourages sheer temptation to proverbially settle their internal problems through external enemies," Ryabkov said.

According to the latest statistics, over 4,442,000 people have been infected with coronavirus worldwide and more than 298,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 1,668,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.