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Coronavirus pandemic

Fight against coronavirus should not sever cooperation between countries, says Putin

Speaking at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council, he supported the idea of attracting the resources of the Eurasian Development Bank to help the EAEU countries fight against coronavirus

© Alexei Druzhinin/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS

NOVO-OGARYOVO, April 14. /TASS/. Methods of combating the coronavirus pandemic should be reasonable and proportionate and not lead to severance of cooperation between countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in videoconference mode.

"I have to agree that the methods of combating the pandemic should be reasonable and proportionate, should not lead to a severance of cooperation ties developed over decades, a halt in international trade, and a cessation of mutual investments," he said.

Putin proposed "now, within the framework of the EAEU, to begin development of systemic measures designed to create conditions for restoring and ensuring further economic development." "In particular, to intensify the digitalization process in the field of logistics, customs, and tax procedures," he explained.

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The president added that "in order to maintain macroeconomic stability, the interaction of central banks of the EAEU member countries is needed on softening lending parameters for enterprises in the real sector of the economy, expanding non-cash and quick payments, and remote banking services."

Putin also supported the idea of attracting the resources of the Eurasian Development Bank to help the EAEU countries fight against coronavirus. "I agree that, if necessary, it is possible to attract the resources of the Eurasian Fund for Stabilization and Development and the Eurasian Development Bank," the head of state said.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 1,900,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 119,000 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 453,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

To date, a total of 21,102 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 1,694 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 170 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.

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