MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/. Russia does not consider promoting the Sputnik V vaccine in the European Union a goal in itself; the top priority is to provide the vaccine to Russian citizens, Russian Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told the Russia-24 TV channel on Thursday.

"Promoting our vaccine [Sputnik V] in the territory of the European Union is not a goal in itself for Russia and for our manufacturers. The main goal is to provide vaccines for the Russian population," he said.

The second goal for Russia, according to the envoy, is to establish production of the Russian vaccine in those countries that expressed interest in it. "There are over 20 such countries already - from Belarus to Brazil," the diplomat added.

In November, Hungary became the first EU country where samples of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine were delivered for analysis.

Sputnik V is the first registered vaccine against the coronavirus worldwide developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Healthcare Ministry. It is currently undergoing post-registration trials with the participation of 40,000 volunteers in Russia alone. Clinical trials of the vaccine, in addition to Russia, are also held in Belarus, Brazil, India and the United Arab Emirates.