Elena Teslova
17 November 2020•Update: 17 November 2020
MOSCOW
Russia has signed agreements on local production of Russian vaccines with China and India, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
In addition, the Russian Direct Investment Fund cut deals with India and Brazil on cooperation in the third phase of Sputnik V vaccine trials, Putin said speaking at the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) video summit.
"The Russian Direct Investment Fund has signed agreements with Indian and Brazilian partners to conduct clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine, and with pharmaceutical companies in China and India to open centers for the production of Russian vaccines in these countries, not only for their own needs, but also for third countries," Putin said.
He also urged BRICS leaders to accelerate the opening of a center for the development and research of vaccines.
Putin stressed that the current task is to make the existing anti-coronavirus vaccines available to public to launch their mass production.
"It is very important to combine efforts to mass produce these products in a wide civil circulation," he said.
Turning to the issues of global and regional security, Putin said the situation remains tense, cyber threats are increasing in addition to terrorist activities.
"Dangerous destabilization is observed in the Middle East and North Africa, and armed confrontations continue in Libya and Yemen," he said.
Karabakh deal
As for the Nagorno-Karabakh region, the cease-fire there is being respected by the parties, the fighting has completely stopped and the situation is stabilizing, Putin said.
Thus, conditions have been created for a long-term and full-scale settlement of the crisis on a fair basis, in the interests of both the Azerbaijani and Armenian people, he added.
"The Russian side has made the most active efforts to help stop the fighting between the two friendly states and encourage them to find compromise solutions. As a result of our mediation, on November 9, agreements were reached on a complete cease-fire and the deployment of a Russian peacekeeping contingent in Nagorno-Karabakh," he said.
Relations between the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia have been tense since 1991 when the Armenian military occupied Nagorno-Karabakh, also known as Upper Karabakh, a territory recognized as part of Azerbaijan, and seven adjacent regions.
New clashes erupted Sept. 27 and ended in a Russia-brokered truce six weeks later.
Baku liberated several cities and nearly 300 settlements and villages from the Armenian occupation during this time.
