Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have discussed the coronavirus pandemic, the international agenda, including strategic stability and the Syrian crisis settlement, as well as some aspects of bilateral relations, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
"In continuation of the phone talks between the Russian and US presidents, held several hours earlier, the foreign ministries' heads have continued exchanging opinions on the global situation caused by the coronavirus pandemic. They have confirmed the intention to contribute to the implementation of decisions reached at the G20 summit, held on 26 March in a video conference format", the ministry went on to say.
Last week, the Russian foreign minister conducted phone talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah Al Nahyan, his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, as well as Milorad Dodik, the Serb member of the tripartite Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), to discuss the COVID-19 pandemic and the necessary steps to contain the spread of the virus.
The COVID-19 virus has infected more than 755,000 people worldwide and killed more than 36,000, according to Johns Hopkins University’s real-time tracker. More than 158,000 people have recovered from the disease. Russia has so far confirmed 1,836 cases of COVID-19, and the majority of the country's regions are affected. Nine people have died from COVID-19-related complications in Russia, according to the coronavirus response centre.