Coronavirus: Russian plane with medical supplies lands in US after Trump-Putin call

Russia’s largest cargo aircraft with medical supplies landed in New York City to help the US contain the pandemic as the country is witnessing an exponential rise in COVID-19 cases. Russian Mission to the United Nations said that the medical supplies will help local communities and hospitals in their crucial action against coronavirus.

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US State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said in a statement that the United States agreed to purchase medical supplies from Kremlin as a follow-up phone call between President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The spokesperson confirmed that the necessary supplies including ventilators and personal protection equipment were handed over to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on April 1.

“Both countries have provided humanitarian assistance to each other in times of crisis in the past and will no doubt do so again in the future. This is a time to work together to overcome a common enemy that threatens the lives of all of us,” said the spokesperson.

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'Common enemy'

The State Department said that the US has been a “generous and reliable contributor” to crisis response and humanitarian action across the world but emphasised that it can not fight the ongoing COVID-19 crisis alone. It added that the Trump administration is working closely with G20 countries and others to ensure the availability of critical supplies to those in need. US State Secretary Mike Pompeo also took to Twitter justify the need to purchase medical supplies from Russia.

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