Russia denies undermining vaccine efforts in the West

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Friday blasted statements by US and EU diplomats accusing Moscow of having a malign foreign policy.

Answering US Secretary of State Antony Blinken statement that Moscow is eroding confidence in safe vaccines, Zakharova said Russia "has nothing to do with it."

"We don't interfere with any delivery schedules (for the vaccine), who gets the vaccination first among the Western countries, the regulatory approval of Western vaccines or their withdrawal," she said.

She went on to say that EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell's characterization of Russia as a dangerous neighbour was "stupid."

"If we look at the historical context, then the head of EU diplomacy can't not know that the countries of the current European Union largely suffered from one another, and certainly never from Russia," she said.