Russia, US should help each other during pandemic: Kremlin

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes the global coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity for his country to work together with the United States, the Kremlin said Thursday.

“President Putin believes this pandemic is the time to help each other,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday offered to send ventilators to Russia.

“This is very positive and the US president told Putin of this readiness during the recent phone call,” Peskov said.

Russia would take Trump up on his offer “if need be”, he added.

Last week Putin and Trump discussed their countries’ efforts to combat coronavirus.

Russia this month sent a military plane with medical aid and equipment to New York, the epicentre of the US coronavirus epidemic.

Since late March, Trump and Putin have had a flurry of contacts, with the US leader saying that they “get along very well”, even though bilateral relations have been at their lowest point since the Cold War.

Russia on Thursday registered 3,448 new cases of infection, bringing the total to nearly 28,000, with 232 deaths. Authorities have warned that the outbreak has put a huge strain on clinics in Moscow and elsewhere.