Putin declines UK invitation to take part in virus summit

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin does not plan to take part in an online summit on a possible coronavirus vaccine being organised by the British government this week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday, foreign media reported.

Putin received an invitation to take part in the summit from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson last week, the Kremlin had said.Scheduled to take place on June 4, the Global Vaccine Summit 2020 is designed to mobilise resources needed to ensure universal availability of the vaccine against the novel coronavirus.