Citizens of all states should have free access to vaccination against coronavirus. This was stated by Vladimir Putin at the 15th East Asia Summit, which was held in 2020 via videoconference. Russia has already provided dozens of countries with over a million test systems and is in dialogue with foreign partners about the supply of domestic drugs for COVID-19. In the current situation, the leading players in the world arena must provide assistance to states that do not have the resources to fight the infection, say experts interviewed by Izvestia. During the summit, issues of a military-political nature were also discussed. Experts are confident that the possible deployment of US medium and shorter-range missiles in Japan or South Korea will have a strong destabilizing effect on the entire Asia-Pacific region.
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Common enemy
The East Asia Summit is a platform for dialogue between the Asia-Pacific countries. It brings together a total of 18 countries, including the ASEAN member states, Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, the United States and the Russian Federation. In addition to strengthening regional security, ensuring sustainable economic growth and other traditional topics, in 2020, the event focused on the fight against COVID-19.
The Asia-Pacific region now has over 20 million coronavirus cases. This is 43.7% of the total number of infected people in the world, Vladimir Putin emphasized during the plenary meeting of the summit. Back in 2016, Moscow put forward an initiative to develop anti-infectious cooperation in the region. Its implementation, according to the President of the Russian Federation, made it possible to establish coordination through the epidemiological departments, organize the exchange of experience and information, and begin training specialized specialists. In addition, a training program was launched for epidemiologists from the APR states at the center in Vladivostok. According to the Russian leader, the activities of the Center for Military Medicine of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations established in Bangkok, where command-staff exercises to combat the pandemic were held in May, were also very useful.
But the current situation requires additional efforts to defeat this invisible enemy. Russia has already supplied over a million coronavirus tests to more than 40 countries, Vladimir Putin said. According to him, Moscow is ready to continue to provide foreign partners with domestic test systems and reagents for diagnosing infection, including free of charge. Dozens of states are also interested in the supply and joint production of vaccines created in Russia. While our country has registered “Sputnik-V”, developed by NITsEM them. N.F. Gamalei, and “EpiVacCorona” from the Novosibirsk center “Vector”. Soon a third drug should appear, on which the FNCIRIP them. M.P. Chumakov.
“We are convinced that citizens of all states should have free access to vaccination,” Vladimir Putin said.
The first samples of Sputnik-V are due to arrive in Hungary next week, which will become the first EU country to test a Russian vaccine. Clinical testing of the drug has already begun in Belarus, Brazil, Venezuela, India and the United Arab Emirates.
Leading countries of the world should help partners who do not have the resources to develop their own vaccines, agrees Alexei Agranovsky, professor at the Department of Virology, Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University. However, first of all, it is necessary to ensure the vaccination of its own population, he stressed.
– If there are opportunities, of course, you need to help. As for Russia, first of all, we are talking about the near abroad. Besides the fact that it is a certain moral duty, this assistance will have a positive effect in the long term. All states, like people or companies, depend on PR. There is nothing wrong. Therefore, let this PR be good, ”he told Izvestia.
The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that the assumption of the availability of effective medicine in a particular country is a myth, the specialist noted. In the current situation, all states are confused to one degree or another, he added. This also applies to developed Western countries, including, for example, the United States, Great Britain and even Switzerland.
“The current situation has shown that Russian medicine was not the weakest in terms of work in an emergency,” Aleksey Agranovsky is sure.
It would be right now to avoid politicizing any issues related to confronting the coronavirus, said Oleg Bondarenko, director of the Progressive Policy Foundation.
– The safety and effectiveness of a particular vaccine should be in the first place, since much is unknown about this disease. Several countries are already in dialogue about vaccine procurement with various powers, including Russia, the United States and Israel. It is unlikely that anyone will have a monopoly on the supply of vaccines – everyone will compete with each other. The provision of drugs to foreign partners is undoubtedly a noble cause, but we must not forget about the business component, – the political scientist explained to Izvestia.
The key to safety
Countries as a whole need to work together to maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. At the same time, it is important to act “on the principles of respect for international law, consideration of each other’s interests, ensuring equal and indivisible security,” the president stressed. This also applies to the military-political area, the risks in which have significantly increased after the termination of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles last summer. Russia, which is trying to prevent a new arms race, has unilaterally declared a moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles in the APR and other regions of the world as long as the United States refrains from such measures, Vladimir Putin recalled.
– The deployment of US medium and shorter-range missiles, for example, in South Korea or Japan, will significantly complicate the situation in the region for at least one important reason. They just as easily reach not only China, but also Russia, ”Yuri Rogulev, director of the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States at Moscow State University, told Izvestia. – The second factor is related to the fact that because of their range of action, these missiles are located, naturally, closer to foreign territory. Moreover, their flight time is even significantly less than that of ballistic intercontinental missiles. Low flight time is a factor that destabilizes the situation and makes it explosive.
In addition, we must not forget that Washington can deploy the INF Treaty on the territory of its European NATO allies. In particular, we are talking about Romania and Poland, where the Aegis Ashore complexes with MK-41 launchers are already located. Earlier, the Russian side has repeatedly stated that these installations are suitable for launching Tomahawk medium-range strike missiles.
Economic cooperation also plays an important role for the development of the region. According to Vladimir Putin, in the context of a pandemic in the Asia-Pacific space, the volume of mutual trade is decreasing, and there is a recession in key industrial and financial sectors. In particular, the trade turnover of the Russian Federation with the states of the region decreased by 12% in the first three quarters of 2020. The Russian leader is confident that the further development of diversified integration projects will contribute to the strengthening of economic cooperation in the APR. In his opinion, regional and sub-regional associations such as ASEAN, EAEU and SCO can harmoniously and effectively complement each other. On November 14, the intention to strengthen further cooperation between the countries of the region were enshrined in the final Hanoi Declaration.