US, China, Russia trade jibes over Covid response

United States, China and Russia butted hes at United Nations on Thursday over responsibility for pandemic that has interrupted world, tring allegations about who mishandled and politicized virus in one of few real-time exchanges among top officials at this year's COVID-distanced U.N. General Assembly meeting.

remarks at U.N. Security Council came two days after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres decried lack of international cooperation in tackling still out-of-control coronavirus.

sharp exchanges, at end of a virtual meeting on “Post COVID-19 Global Governance,” reflected deep divisions among three veto-wielding council members that have escalated since virus first emerged in Chinese city of Wuhan.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, speaking first, stressed importance of U.N.-centered multilateralism and alluded to countries - including U.S. - opting out of making a COVID-19 vaccine a global public good available to people everywhere.

And in a jab at U.S. and European Union sanctions including on Russia, Syria and ors, he said: "Unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction needs to be opposed in order to safeguard authority and sanctity of international law.”

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said pandemic and its "common misfortune did t iron out interstate differences, but to contrary deepened m.”

“And we see attempts on part of individual countries to use current situation in order to move forward ir narrow interests of moment in order to settle score with undesirable governments or geopolitical competitors.”

That was too much for United States' U.N. ambassor, Kelly Craft, who opened her remarks late in meeting with a blunt rejoinder.

“Shame on each of you. I am astonished and disgusted by content of today’s discussion," Craft said.

She said or representatives were “squandering this opportunity for political purposes."

“President Trump has me it very clear: We will do whatever is right, even if it’s unpopular, because, let me tell you what, this is t a popularity contest,” Craft said.

She quoted Trump’s speech Tuesday to virtual opening of General Assembly's leers meeting in which he said that to chart a better future, “we must hold accountable nation which unleashed this plague onto world: China.”