Russian Foreign Ministry criticizes French official's remarks on vaccines

A person receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Jiangxia District in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, June 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Xiao Yijiu)

Zakharova called Beaune's remarks "a hybrid of racism, imperial hegemonism and neo-Nazism."

MOSCOW, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The remarks by a French official of not recognizing Russian and Chinese COVID-19 vaccines were "a hybrid of racism, imperial hegemonism and neo-Nazism," a spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

French Minister of State for European Affairs Clement Beaune has made the remarks to the European Union members earlier this week, which was quite inappropriate and went against laws, ethics and morality, Maria Zakharova said on her Telegram channel.

"It is particularly striking that Western countries with cold-bloodedness, cynicism and cruelty are fighting for profits during the period of mankind's struggle against the pandemic," she wrote.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday, China has provided more than 100 countries and international organizations with 500 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines and concentrates, accounting for one-sixth of the current global COVID-19 vaccine production.

China has also actively supported other developing countries in producing vaccines to expand the global vaccine capacity, the foreign ministry said.