Putin Offers Full Cooperation to China on Combatting the Coronavirus Crisis

Feb. 5, 2020 (EIRNS)—Russian President Vladimir Putin, in remarks delivered today at a ceremony accepting credentials of diplomatic personnel, stated: “China and all of us face the danger of coronavirus infection spread. The Chinese authorities are taking decisive and vigorous measures to stop the epidemic.” He declared that Russia is prepared to “provide all required assistance to the friendly Chinese people.”

A day earlier, Putin had emphasized that it is in everyone’s interest that there are effective results from measures the Chinese have taken to combat the virus, and that Russia has particular capabilities in epidemiology that it is willing to share, much as it had played a role in producing an Ebola vaccine in 2016.

Russian Deputy Health Minister Sergei Krayevoi announced on yesterday, according to TASS, that Russia had developed a new antiviral drug which it had sent to China for their use. “Triazavirin (TZV) is a broad-spectrum antiviral drug developed in Russia through a joint effort of the Ural Federal University, the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Organic Synthesis, and the Russian Health Ministry’s Influenza Research Institute. It can be used as a treatment for 15 types of flu,” he stated.

Russia is also taking measures to prevent the spread of the disease into its territory. According to TASS, “Russian citizens and people from other countries evacuated from China will be temporarily accommodated in the Tyumen Region where they will be placed under quarantine, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova told reporters on Tuesday.” Russia is also preparing to evacuate citizens from Wuhan and Hubei Province.