Trump Plans Putin Call on Plague Lab Death — SkimNews
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- Trump announced he will speak with Putin 'probably' Thursday about the death of a lab worker at a plague research centre in Siberia, saying the US and Russia are 'in very deep discussions.'
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no phone call had been scheduled, dismissed media reports as 'false information,' and said Russia's notification to the WHO followed standard practice.
- The US issued a formal diplomatic message to Russia requesting additional information about the death; Peskov told reporters he was not aware of any such request.
- The 28-year-old victim, named in Russian media as Darya Shipilova, worked at the Anti-Plague Institute of Siberia and the Far East; Russian officials say her contacts all tested negative and have not confirmed the disease is pneumonic plague, with watchdog Rospotrebnadzor citing 'pneumonia of an undetermined etiology.'
- Almost 200 people were placed under observation in Siberia's Irkutsk region after reports first emerged Friday; unconfirmed reports say she may have been infected by breaking a test tube containing the pathogen or during a field trip to an area where plague occurs naturally among wild rodents.
- WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for 'timely, complete and transparent information sharing' under the International Health Regulations, noting pneumonic plague can be fatal within 24 hours of incubation.
- Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US has 'measures' available to help Russia if the situation turns out to be more serious than Moscow has claimed.
Why it matters: The two governments can't agree on whether a call is even happening or whether the US sent a formal information request — while nearly 200 people sit under observation and Russia's own watchdog refuses to name the cause of death. Thursday's conversation, if it occurs, will test whether Trump's personal channel can extract the transparency the WHO is publicly demanding.
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