British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab blamed some countries for exploiting vaccines against the Corona virus, as a political tool to enhance their influence.
In an interview with Reuters on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) summit, which kicks off in Cornwall, Britain, on Friday, Raab said, in response to a question if he was concerned about the possibility of China and Russia using vaccines to enhance their influence in different regions. : “There is no doubt that something like this is happening, and we do not support vaccine diplomacy, and certainly blackmail.”
The minister stated that Britain and other G7 countries bear the “moral responsibility” to vaccinate the world against Corona with the vaccines that have been approved by the World Health Organization, adding: “But it is a collective effort, and we want countries such as China and Russia to unite to deal with the challenges of the pandemic and climate change and respect for basic principles of international law.
Raab said that at least 80% of the vaccines that Britain provides to other countries will be distributed without conditions through the international “Cofax” mechanism, and the remaining part will be provided to “countries that have close strategic relations” with London.
The British Foreign Secretary expressed his intention to hold a “brief” contact with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, without revealing the agenda of this contact.
Raab accused Moscow of being behind cyber-attacks (this has been repeatedly denied by Russia), and called on the G7 to stand united against such incidents, whether they were orchestrated by state or non-state actors.
Source: “Reuters”