OREANDA-NEWS. The newspaper Kommersant writes, citing sources, that the government of Belarus had officially requested assistance from Russia in the fight against the coronavirus spread. “The ostentatious bravado of the Belarusian authorities at the height of the coronavirus pandemic does not prevent Minsk from asking Moscow for assistance in the fight against infection,” the publication notes.

The interlocutor of the newspaper emphasized that in order to get the requested assistance, it is necessary to obtain special permission from the Russian government, since on March 2 a resolution prohibiting the export of medical products from the country was adopted. Belarus sent an official request to Russia for the allocation of masks, test systems and mechanical ventilation apparatus.

NSN news agency reports that Moscow received similar requests from all countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, with the exception of Turkmenistan and Ukraine.