President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia was emerging from the novel coronavirus epidemic with minimal losses, having handled it better than the United States where he said party political interests got in the way.

With 528,964 confirmed cases, Russia has the third-highest number of infections after Brazil and the United States.

Its official death toll stands at 6,948, much lower than in many other countries, including the United States which has had over 115,000 deaths. The veracity of Russian statistics has sometimes been the focus of fierce debate however.

“...We are working rather smoothly and emerging from this situation with the coronavirus confidently and, with minimal losses... But in the (United) States that is not happening,” Putin told state TV.