No plans to conduct G20 summit via conference call yet - Kremlin

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Moscow has not received offers to conduct the G20 summit on coronavirus counteraction without personal presence yet, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday. "I don’t know if something came through diplomatic channels, but we have not received any detailed information yet, we have only seen media reports," the spokesperson said. Answering a question regarding whether such remote communication of world leaders is possible, Peskov noted that some nations have installed the so-called "communication red line" - communication line, protected from outside infiltration, which "allow for more or less secret talks." "Of course, discussion of any kind of sensitive matters via open channels appears to be highly unlikely in modern world," the spokesman said. Earlier, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s press service announced following the Prime Minister’s phone talk with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, that Saudi Arabia would gather an emergency G20 meeting "without personal presence" to discuss coronavirus spread. An outbreak of the new coronavirus-related disease, which occurred in central China at the end of 2019, has spread to about 130 countries. The World Health Organization on March 11 declared it as a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, more than 170,000 have contracted the virus around the world. Almost 7,000 have died. Russia’s special task force has identified 93 coronavirus cases. Read more