US Lawmakers Call For Probe Of Ventilator Exchange With Russia

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd October, 2020) US lawmakers in a letter released on Wednesday asked the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security to probe whether the exchange of ventilators with Russia violated sanctions.

"We write to request that you open an investigation into the import and export of ventilators to and from the Russian Federation during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States," the letter said. "Specifically, we ask you to consider whether the Trump Administration's decision to accept a shipment of Russian-produced ventilators on April 1, 2020, may have violated US sanctions law.

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On Tuesday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spokesperson confirmed Sputnik The United States has disposed of 45 Russian-made lung ventilators.

Earlier, media reported that the ventilators had technical issues and were not used. The FEMA spokesperson said the ventilators were delivered in April to the US states of New York and New Jersey, which faced the most severe health crisis amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. The ventilators were never deployed to hospitals and were returned to FEMA by the authorities in the two US states.