Russia announced today, Wednesday, that it has sent a military plane loaded with humanitarian aid to the United States to help cope with the spread of the new epidemic of Corona virus, which has killed more than four thousand people so far.
The Russian Defense Ministry said - in a statement - that an "Antonov-124" Air Force plane was transporting medical masks and medical equipment, which took off for the United States.
The Russian channel "Russia 24" this morning showed a picture of the plane taking off from a military airport outside Moscow in the cover of darkness, and its warehouse was filled with cardboard boxes and other packages.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this issue was the subject of discussion in the telephone conversation between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump.
Peskov stressed that Trump "accepted with gratitude this humanitarian aid." The US President himself spoke enthusiastically of Russian assistance after his phone call to Putin.
The Kremlin official returned to tell Russian news agencies Tuesday evening, "Today when the situation affects the whole world without exception and becomes comprehensive, there is no alternative to working in a spirit of partnership and mutual assistance."
The trip, which was organized by the Russian Defense Ministry, is likely not to be welcomed by some critics of Trump, who have urged him to distance himself from Putin and see that Moscow uses such aid as a political and propaganda tool to impose its influence, which the Kremlin denies.
Last week, Russia sent a number of aircraft carrying virologists, medical equipment, laboratories and mobile disinfection systems to Italy, where the "Covid-19" disease killed more than 12 thousand and four hundred people, which revealed the inability of the European Union to provide quick assistance to a member state in its crisis, He also promoted Putin's propaganda at home and abroad.
In the United States, about 186,000 HIV infections and 4,076 deaths were officially announced as of Wednesday.
In Russia, the number of infections reached 2337 cases, in addition to 17 deaths from the virus, according to official data that some doctors there doubted its accuracy.