OREANDA-NEWS. Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed cooperation during the pandemic and the joint production of a vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. Another topic of telephone conversation was the settlement of the conflict in the east of Ukraine.

“Issues of cooperation in combating the coronavirus pandemic were discussed, with an emphasis on possible prospects for joint production of vaccines. It was agreed to continue contacts on this topic between the health ministries and other specialized structures of the two countries,” the Kremlin’s statement reads. It is noted that the leaders of the countries exchanged congratulations on the New Year and Christmas holidays.

In the European Union, mass vaccination started at the end of December 2020. A vaccine develop by companies Pfizer (USA) and BioNTech (Germany) has been approved. On December 19, the Minister of Health of Germany Jens Spahn informed his Russian counterpart Mikhail Murashko about readiness to produce a Russian vaccine against coronavirus.