MOSCOW, July 26./TASS/. Russia deems it as necessary to expand cooperation on biosecurity with the CIS partners, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Rashid Nurgaliyev said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper on Monday
"Given the common security space, Russia will offer assistance and support to CIS countries in dealing with natural and man-made emergencies, in the sphere of the fight against biological threats, the spread of dangerous infectious diseases," Nurgaliyev stressed.
"We consider it important to expand cooperation on biosecurity issues with the Commonwealth of Independent States’ member countries," he said. Nurgaliyev believes that "the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how difficult it is to solve this problem and once again pinpointed the priorities in cooperation of our country with our CIS partners". It is the CIS countries where "Russia supplied tests and medicines as a priority, as well as offered comprehensive methodological and medical assistance," he reiterated.
CIS countries are actively using the Russian-made Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, which has been registered in Abkhazia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and South Ossetia, he noted. "Its production, with Russian technology, has been established in Belarus and Kazakhstan, while Uzbekistan plans to shortly begin the production of the vaccine," the deputy to the security chief said.
"Through this action, we have jointly counterbalanced the effects of the pandemic and learned to work in this difficult situation," he summed up.