MINSK, 3 September (BelTA) – The Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on the publication of the U.S. report on the investigation into the origin of SARS-CoV-2. The comment of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs press service was published on the ministry's website, BelTA has learned.
The U.S. National Intelligence Service has recently released an investigation report into the origins of SARS-CoV-2, in which it attempts to accuse the People's Republic of China of, if not of developing the virus, then of harboring information needed to combat it. “This conclusion is based on the opinion of representatives of the intelligence community, whose professional qualifications in the field of epidemiology and virology are unknown to us. At the same time, the authors of this text prefer to ignore the obvious and widely known facts of China's cooperation with international healthcare institutions and the international community as a whole on the subject of combating the spread of SARS-CoV-2. They also ignore the opinion of 80 member states of the World Health Organization, including Belarus, more than 300 political parties, public organizations and think tanks of more than 100 countries and regions, which have spoken out against politicization of the issue of the virus source and supported the joint report of China and WHO on this topic,” the ministry's press service said.
The ministry stressed that close interaction and interested cooperation of scientists from all over the world in this purely scientific work is now important. According to WHO estimates, China is the most active participant in this work. At the invitation of the Chinese side, WHO experts visited China twice to conduct research work.
At the start of the year, a 28-day joint inspection by Chinese and international experts took place and a report with authoritative scientific conclusions was published. “Belarus categorically rejects politicization and instrumentalization of the pandemic topic. We believe that scientific cooperation, especially in such sensitive issues for the whole world, should be free from any influence and pressure. We are convinced that only coordinated joint international efforts will make it possible to effectively combat the COVID-19 pandemic,” the ministry said.
