Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed by phone the potential for joint production of a coronavirus vaccine.
Putin and Merkel discussed cooperation in the fight against COVID-19 “with an emphasis on potential prospects for the joint production of vaccines”, according to a statement on the Kremlin’s website.
The talks follow Putin’s admission last year that domestic equipment shortages could delay Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine from entering mass production. Reports also said Russia was struggling with production capacity issues and problems with scalability and quality control.