The United States has been committed to the global fight against COVID-19. The United States which has been a generous and reliable contributor to the crisis response and humanitarian action across the world but cannot do it alone. Most countries across the globe have agreed to work together to defeat the coronavirus. It was noted that the United States has been working closely with many countries around the world to ensure that critically needed supplies get to those in need.
The United States has agreed to buy needed medical supplies, including ventilators and other personal protection equipments needed to treat patients infected with COVID-19 as the country wrestles with the coronavirus pandemic that the White House has warned could kill up to two million people within two weeks.
Both countries have provided humanitarian assistance to each other in times of crisis in the past and will no doubt do so again in the future. This is the time to work together to overcome a common enemy that threatens the lives of all of us.
The move to buy from Russia comes after a telephone conversation between the United States President and the Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 30.
President Trump had told reporters that the United States was headed for a very tough two weeks, advising citizens to be prepared for the hard days ahead, as the country is at war with the deadly coronavirus pandemic that the White House projects for claim one to two million lives during the next two weeks.
Across the United States, hospitals have been facing shortage of ventilators lately. Some medical device makers have agreed to ramp up supplies but because patients diagnosed with or suspected to have COVID-19 often require breathing support, in which there has been a widespread concern that these devices won’t be developed or shipped quickly enough.
The United States has reported 213,372 COVID-19 cases, the highest in the world, and over 5,000 people have died due to the deadly virus.
Russia is set to deliver a planeload of medical supplies and personal protective equipments to the United States after the phone call between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vlamir Putin. It was stated that the supply items wod be put into immediate use as approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Likewise, the United States is also sending equipments and supplies to many other countries and has promised to continue to do more as they are able to.
President Trump himself welcomed the move as his administration works to scale up the amount of medical supplies being delivered to overburdened United States hospitals across the country, which faces a side shortage of medical supplies.
The United States has appeared to have shed it’s traditional role of world leaders in a global crisis, critics say, instead redirecting it’s focus on domestic needs.
“The United States has always had the reputation of being the global responsible first responder in moments of crisis and now… you have a situation where an authoritarian state like Russia is providing humanitarian assistance to the most powerful country in the world”.
Despite strikes relations, Russia and the United States have still been able to successfully put their differences aside and cooperate on shared areas of interest such as arms control and counterterrorism in the past.
Russia, China and other countries around the globe have seized on the global pandemic to push out false narratives that undercut the West and showcase their own clout by delivering medical supplies abroad, even as they fight the virus at home.
Though there has been lots of criticism behind the delivery of medical supplies to the United States by the Russian President.
It was noted that Russian hospitals were in short supply of masks and gloves, in which the doctors and nurses were asked to see their own face masks and gloves because pharmacies ran out of stock while the Russian President sent a planeload of medical supplies, including ventilators and face masks to the United States. It was said that half of the shipment was purchased by the United States while half was provided by the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund that invests in Russian businesses.
It has been noted as a good gesture of solidarity with New Yorkers who are in a very difficult situation at the moment.
The transfer of goods has been seen as an example of the dramatic shift in how the world responds to a crisis. The United States is normally considered one of the leading providers of humanitarian assistance abroad but amid the global coronavirus pandemic is struggling to provide the necessary resources at home.
