President Putin supports paid leaves across Russia to contain COVID-19 surge
October 21, 2021, 12:52 am

President Putin supports paid leaves across Russia to contain COVID-19 surge

Russia-Moscow-Coronavirus quarantine/Pixabay

The Xinhua reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he supports a proposal to introduce paid non-working days across the country from Oct. 30 to Nov. 7 to contain a hike in COVID-19 infections and related deaths.

Putin told a government meeting, local authorities can launch the days off earlier or extend them if necessary.

The Xinhua said, the proposal was made by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova on Tuesday and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin called it "a necessary measure."

According to the Xinhua, Russia is experiencing its toughest period since the pandemic began, with daily new infections and coronavirus-related deaths repeatedly hitting record highs.

According to the country's official monitoring and response center, Russia confirmed 34,073 new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 8,094,825, while the nationwide death toll grew by a record daily increase of 1,028 to 226,353.

Source: xinhua

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.