The US accusations regarding China's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic are not only politically, but also economically motivated, with Washington trying to sideline Beijing in the global market, Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov said.
"Concerning this particular topic, multiple factors of political evaluations and economic interests are knotted here. Clearly, many of the invectives, lets put it like that, against China, especially by the United States and some of its allies, are motivated not only by some kind of attempt to present itself as arbiters of politics of sorts who have reserved the right to judge everyone else, but also particular economic interests, [including] attempts to push away China from the global market as a growing competitor", the ambassador told reporters.

He has noted that Moscow is on Beijing's side in this dispute.

"We need the truth, we need impartial scientific research. This is undoubtedly a threat to all humanity, meaning everyone has to look into what has transpired and not use it as a possible political weapon", Denisov stressed.
 

The United States, including President Donald Trump, has been consistently accusing China of being unable to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and concealing facts. Earlier in the day, Trump speculated that the pandemic had been caused by alleged incompetence in China. 

The COVID-19 pandemic originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, prompting some, including US State Secretary Mike Pompeo, to claim it came from a laboratory located there.

On 11 March, the World Health Organisation declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. To date, more than 3.8 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, and nearly 270,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.