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G20 plans to hold video conference summit to discuss coronavirus situation

The discussion of the agenda of the summit is underway, the Kremlin spokesman said

MOSCOW, March 20. /TASS/. The G20 can hold a video conference summit in the near future to discuss the coronavirus situation, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"Indeed, there is such an initiative from the G20 presiding country, Saudi Arabia. All technical parameters for organizing a video conference are indeed being agreed on through diplomatic channels," the noted.

The discussion of the agenda of the summit is underway, he added. "As for the content parameters, the issue at hand is holding such a video conference summit to discuss one issue, the coronavirus situation," Peskov stressed.

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia said that it planned to convene an extraordinary G20 summit next week to discuss the coronavirus situation.

When asked whether other issues, such as oil prices, could be discussed at the summit, Peskov noted that "this will depend on what issues the participants in the meeting will raise and how." "This is communication between the leaders, they are free to raise those issues, which they deem necessary," he explained.

The Kremlin spokesman noted that, as soon as the exact dates and time [of the summit] were agreed on through diplomatic channels, the media would be informed about the decisions. He added that the issue of the openness of the event had not been resolved yet. "This is the first, unique experience, there have been no such formats before, so the issues related to covering [the summit) were not discussed yet," he explained.