NOVO-OGARYOVO, November 14. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin called on participants in the East Asia summit to adopt a joint statement on the fight against the coronavirus.
"Russia has come up with a proposal to prepare a joint statement for approval by the leaders of the states participating in the East Asia summit on fighting the coronavirus," the Russian president said at the summit’s plenary session taking place via a video conference.
Putin said he hoped that the summit would support this idea. "I hope this document will be adopted today," he said.
Close cooperation and interaction are needed to fight the most serious challenge posed by the coronavirus pandemic, the Russian leader said.
Over 20 million coronavirus cases have been registered in the Asia-Pacific region, which makes up 43.4% of all infections in the world, Putin said.
Russia has already delivered over 1 million coronavirus tests to more than 40 countries, he said.
"We are ready to continue supplying partners with Russian test systems and reagents for coronavirus diagnostics, including on a gratuitous basis," the Russian leader said.
"Over 1 million tests have been delivered to more than 40 countries of the world," Putin stressed.
Dozens of countries have expressed their desire to establish cooperation in the delivery and joint production of Russian coronavirus vaccines. Russia has developed and is already using the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V. Recently, the second vaccine EpiVacCorona was registered in Russia and the third vaccine is on its way, the Russian leader said.