Donald Trump to talk to Vladimir Putin over Russian plague reports

United States President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he plans to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin very soon about a reported plague death in Russia. Speaking at the White House, Trump confirmed that a call was scheduled to discuss the incident, as reported by the Daily Express, NBC News, AP News, and Anadolu Ajansi. The reports follow the death of an employee at a research facility in Siberia, as FTMQ News reported earlier. [1][2][3][4][8][10][11][15][16]

France 24 and rte.ie reported that Washington and the World Health Organization are pressing Moscow for transparency amid conflicting accounts surrounding the Siberian incident. Health authorities are investigating after the worker died from pneumonia with an unknown cause, according to the Daily Express. However, rte.ie reported that Russian authorities denied imposing anti-plague measures and played down reports of an incident in the Irkutsk region. [1][3][4]

Trump stated that the United States is in deep discussions regarding information from its intelligence community, the Daily Express reported. Fox News and CNBC both reported that Trump expressed willingness for the United States to assist Russia amid concerns over the suspected case. [3][5][6][7]

The World Health Organization stated that it is in contact with Russian officials and has offered assistance if needed, according to CNBC. The Daily Express, CNBC, and rte.ie all reported that the agency assesses the risk to the general public outside Russia as low based on available information. [3][7]