President Klaus Iohannis said Romania will gratefully accept U.S. President Donald Trump’s offer to provide ventilators for coronavirus patients.
Trump called Iohannis on Saturday to discuss the effects of the novel coronavirus in both countries and the bilateral Strategic Partnership.
The U.S. president also offered Romania 800,000 U.S. dollars to help Romania fight the spread of the virus which so far has infected 10,635 people in Romania and caused 579 deaths.
Trump’s offer to Romania came after he said this week the U.S. was ready to send ventilators to Russia, and also ready to provide ventilators to other countries, including Italy, Spain and France.
The two presidents also discussed ways to consolidate the Strategic Partnership, the presidential administration said in a statement.
“Romania’s president expressed his appreciation for the support offered by the U.S. including for the use of transport planes under the Strategic Airlift Capability within NATO, which has already transported protection equipment for health workers.”
The leaders discussed what measures had been implemented to contain the spread of the coronavirus and how successful they had been, and future plans for the healthcare sector and the economy.
The U.S. currently has 930,000 cases of coronavirus and 52,500 deaths, the highest number of any country.
Both Trump and Iohannis “reaffirmed… the shared commitment to the bilateral Strategic Partnership, and (to) increasing economic and security cooperation,” Iohannis’ office said.
