MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th March, 2021) Russia is making every effort to respond to all requests for the coronavirus vaccines it gets from other countries, but this is not humanitarian aid, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
Russian vaccines got enmeshed in a diplomatic incident earlier this week, as Slovak Prime Minister Igor Matovic, when asked what Slovakia gave Russia for the Sputnik V vaccine, joked about trading the Ukrainian region in Carpathian Mountains for it. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry demanded apologies.
"Of course, it is help amid global vaccine deficit. Of course, Russia does everything possible to meet the demand of its own citizens and only then respond to the many requests of other countries. Yes, of course our Slovak partners and colleagues also want to get the vaccine, and the RDIF will work with Slovakia and meet their demands. This is regular work, not humanitarian aid," Peskov said.
The spokesman added that the Russian vaccine had "its price, and that price is lower than other vaccines, by the way."
Peskov declined to comment on the Slovak prime minister's joke.
"It's just a joke, nothing more, and we do not want to comment on it in any way. This does not concern us," Peskov told reporters.
SLovakia received its first Sputnik V shipment on March 1. The vaccine has not been authorized in the European Union yet, but Slovakia decided to get it even before the approval process was completed as there was vaccine shortage in the bloc, Matovic said.
