Speaking during a plenary session at the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said: “The Russian pharmaceutical industry is willing to continue to boost the production of vaccines so we are not just fully covering our own needs.”
“We can also provide foreign citizens with a chance to come to Russia and get vaccinated here. I know that given the efficiency of our vaccines, there is a high demand for that,” he continued, according to a translation.
“In that regard, I would like to ask the government to analyze all aspects of this issue until the end of the month. So that, of course, in compliance with all safety measures and sanitary requirements to organize the conditions for foreign citizens to get a chance to get a vaccine on a commercial basis,” Putin said, without specifying the cost.
Separately, Russia’s Putin said the first line of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany had been completed. The second line is yet to be finished.
The controversial 1,230-kilometer (764-mile) undersea pipeline is set to become one of the longest offshore gas pipelines in the world. It is designed to deliver Russian gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea, bypassing Ukraine.
Alongside several European countries, the U.S. opposes the pipeline, calling it a “bad deal” for European energy security. President Joe Biden is under pressure to do more to halt the nearly-complete project.
Putin is scheduled to hold talks with Biden in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16.
Anna Kuzina
Operations management
Swiss Russian Chamber of Commerce
Dufourstrasse 60
8000 Zurich
https://russ.swiss
