WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has scheduled a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible case of plague in a Siberian research institute.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he would discuss the matter with Putin “very soon.” Health authorities are investigating after the death of a plague institute employee was attributed to pneumonia of unknown cause.
Asked what US intelligence was saying about the matter, Trump said the US was in “very in-depth discussions” on the matter. “We can report on it probably tomorrow,” Trump said.
The World Health Organization said Tuesday the case poses a “very low” risk outside Russia. The UN agency said it was in contact with Russian authorities following reports of death last week of a woman who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.
On Monday, Trump said the United States would be ready to help Russia resolve this situation. “It’s a serious disease. You know, it’s a disease that we were able to control, but somehow these microbes got stronger and smarter. They’re like an army,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
The call also comes as the Trump administration faces an October 18 deadline to decide which, if any, Russian entities it will sanction under the Lindsey O. Graham Russia and Iran Sanctions Act, which Trump signed into law on September 18.
Ukraine gave the administration and Congress a wish list of Russian companies, ships and individuals he would like to be hit with American sanctions under this law.
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AP writer Collin Binkley contributed to this report.
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