Russia's reaction to Trump's ultimatum

Russia's reaction to Trump's ultimatum

"We are against the break-up (WHO), which would refer to the political or geopolitical interests of one country, and that is the United States," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, adding that there are ways to improve work by calling for reforms.

Ryabkov said that Russia approaches these calls in a responsible and constructive way and that it is ready to actively participate in such work.

Ryabkov said that Russia is against politicizing everything related to the spread of the coronavirus and is in favor of finding ways that would allow us to advance toward a more effective solution to the problems associated with the pandemic, to consolidate the role of the WHO and to prevent its weakening.

"The WHO should not become a puck to be passed back and forth pursuing goals other than those of building most efficient international cooperation against the pandemic," TASS news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying at a meeting with Russian lawmakers.

US President Donald Trump accused the WHO of being the "puppet of China" in which the coronavirus appeared at the end of 2019.

Trump gave the World Health Organization a month to get significant results in ending the fight against the virus, and otherwise he threatens that the United States, traditionally the largest provider of financial support, will leave that world organization.

U.S. President Donald Trump has sent a letter to WHO Director-General in which he threatened to stop financing it and reconsider U.S. membership unless WHO commits to "substantive improvements" within 30 days.