Photos via the White House NSC of US ventilators being delivered to Russia by @USAID, which was expelled by Russian authorities in 2012 over alleged "attempts to influence political processes through its grants." bbc.com/news/world-eur…
@USAID And those are just the first batch of US ventilators. Russian Foreign Ministry spox Maria Zakharova says a second delivery from the US will come next week. tass.ru/obschestvo/853…
Zakharova: “Now that the US has increased its capacity for the production of ventilators, Washington has an opportunity to support Russian efforts to combat the [coronavirus] pandemic."
US Embassy in Russia shares a photo of the US plane arriving in Moscow today with those ventilators and other medical supplies.
US Embassy in Moscow says cost of medical goods delivered to Russia today is $5.6 million and calls it humanitarian aid, likely meaning its a gift. Russia's Foreign Ministry previously said it billed the US $660K for aid it delivered.
Here's US Ambassador to Russia John Sullivan handing over US medical aid, including 50 ventilators (150 more to be delivered next week), in Moscow.
