BUENOS AIRES, June 5. /TASS/. Argentinians continue to send letters to the Russian embassy in Buenos Aires thanking Russia for its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, Russian Ambassador to Argentina Dmitry Feoktistov said in an article published in Monday’s issue of the Perfil newspaper.
"I believe that ordinary people will remember for a long time that Russia came to help them in their hour of need. This is confirmed by the many warm letters that still come to our embassy. Argentinians thank us for Sputnik V, for saving the lives of those near and dear to them. That means that we did everything right and not in vain," he noted.
Although at the beginning of the pandemic Western pharmaceutical companies signed agreements with developing countries to involve their populations in clinical trials of promising new medicines, the first batches of these drugs went to other countries, he stated. "As a matter of fact, the people of the Global South were used as guinea pigs and then left to sink or swim," he emphasized.
According to Feoktistov, Russia, on the contrary, focused on international cooperation immediately after the registration of the Sputnik V vaccine. "Even then, it was already clear that the disease could only be curbed by a consolidated effort. Moreover, unlike those who have not dropped their colonial habits, we have never divided people into first and second class," he noted, adding that Sputnik V, which was the first coronavirus vaccine in Argentina, helped save "millions of lives."
At the same time, he expressed regret that authorities and media in some countries seem to forget about Russia’s assistance. "Now that the pandemic is over and the global media, which are controlled by a narrow group of states, are seeking to demonize Russia amid the special military operation in Ukraine, someone can easily erase the lessons of the recent past from memory. Even to forget what is the difference between true friends and those who only pretend to be friends," the Russian diplomat noted.