President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed that he is set to talk to Russian president Vladimir Putin “very soon” about the plague-related death of a female researcher in Siberia.
The day before, on Putin’s birthday, Trump announced that a phone call with the Russian president had been scheduled. Prior to that announcement, Trump responded to a journalist question related to a call with Putin, stating, “so far, we are in very deep discussions. We’ll be able to report about it probably tomorrow.”
In response to these claims, Russia broke silence over the timing of such a virtual meeting or phone calls. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow and Washington have not yet agreed on a telephone conversation, adding it is unclear when such conversation will take place, as reported by TASS.
“Not yet. We’ll let you know,” Peskov replied when asked whether the call had already been coordinated with the Russian side.
While the Kremlin previously indicated that such a discussion could be arranged quickly if proposed, no new timeline has been set. The leaders have spoken five times this year, with their most recent conversation occurring on September 8.
Since last week, Russia has been in headlines due to growing concerns emanating from pneumonic plague as the 28-year-old Daria Shipilova died from a “pneumonia of undetermined” origin at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and Far East.
WHO deemed this plague a low risk to public health but urged Russian authorities to share proper information related to plague-related deaths. On Tuesday, Russia health watchdog confirmed that no other employee has come into contact with pathogen spread at the institute in Siberia.
Additionally, the US is also closely monitoring this situation related to plague, however Trump ruled out the possibility of plague as a biological weapon along with the request from Russia to share more information over the plague pandemic.
