05 May 2024,   02:30
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Trump says he’s sending ventilators to Russia for Putin"s coronavirus response

Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted an offer from President Donald Trump for ventilators to aid the country’s coronavirus response.


Trump in mid-April signaled he might send ventilators to Russia to help it with COVID-19, and it appears the two leaders sealed the deal on a Thursday phone call, in which they also discussed arms control, according to the White House.


A White House readout of the call indicated that Trump told Putin the US was “ready to provide assistance to any country in need, including Russia”. Separately, a Kremlin readout of the call said it was “proposed from the American side to send a batch of medical equipment to Russia”.


Later in the day, Trump told reporters at the White House that Russia was having a “hard time” with COVID-19 and that the US would send “some ventilators” at the “appropriate time”.


It’s unclear how many ventilators Trump is offering to Russia. The White House declined to comment when contacted by Insider. The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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