Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed during phone talks Thursday to jointly work toward containing the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Abe and Putin welcomed the recent deepening of bilateral cooperation in the economic field, as seen in a joint investment in a project to develop a rapid test kit for the virus, according to a senior Japanese government official.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russia's sovereign wealth fund, said Wednesday its joint fund with the Japan Bank for International Cooperation is investing in the project to make a test kit that can detect the virus in 30 minutes.