This discussion took place during President Putin’s reception of Sheikh Mohamed at the Kremlin during his official visit to the Russian Federation. During the meeting, Sheikh Mohamed and the Russian President reviewed progress in UAE-Russian relations in recent years, particularly in the areas of economy, trade, investment, space, and energy, within the context of the strategic partnership between the two nations. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to further developing these relations across all levels.
BRICS Summit
The meeting also addressed the BRICS Summit and the group’s role in promoting international collective efforts to achieve shared global objectives. In this context, the UAE President commended President Putin’s efforts in leading BRICS during its current session and expressed his best wishes for Russia’s continued success in its presidency of the group.

He reaffirmed the UAE’s commitment to building effective partnerships with other countries and enhancing multilateral cooperation to achieve sustainable development and prosperity for all.
During the meeting, Sheikh Mohamed and the Russian President exchanged views on several regional and international issues of mutual concern. In this context, the UAE President emphasised the UAE’s consistent approach in supporting efforts to bolster peace and stability globally while promoting peaceful solutions and initiatives to resolve conflict.

Both sides reviewed the situation in the Middle East, with Sheikh Mohamed underscoring the need to prevent the further escalation of regional conflict that threatens security and stability. He also called for a clear political horizon to achieve a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, which ensures security and stability for all.
For his part, President Putin welcomed Sheikh Mohamed to Russia and expressed his appreciation for the UAE’s recent mediation efforts, which successfully facilitated the exchange of prisoners between Russia and Ukraine.

In response, the UAE President thanked the Russian government for its cooperation with the UAE, acknowledging that this collaboration was instrumental in the success of the initiative. He reiterated the UAE’s commitment to continuing its efforts in this important humanitarian endeavour.

The meeting was attended by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs; Ali bin Hammad Al Shamsi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for National Security; Dr Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology; Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade; Ahmed Ali Al Sayegh, Minister of State; Faisal Abdulaziz Mohammed Al Bannai, Adviser to the UAE President for Strategic Research and Advanced Technology Affairs; Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Executive Affairs Authority; Mohamed Al Abbar, Chairman of Eagle Hills; and Dr. Mohammed Ahmed bin Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Ambassador to the Russian Federation, along with several Russian minister and senior officials.

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During the meeting, both sides engaged in friendly conversation. Sheikh Mohamed thanked President Putin for his ongoing commitment to strengthening UAE-Russian relations and wished the country and its people continued prosperity.
In turn, the Russian President welcomed Sheikh Mohamed’s visit, praising his efforts in bolstering relations between the two countries and advancing them to the level of a strategic partnersh

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A group of researchers have expressed concern about repetitive patterns of data in a paper describing early-phase clinical trials of Russia’s coronavirus vaccine — the first jab worldwide to be approved for widespread use, according to a report in Nature.

In an open letter to the study authors, who published the trial results this month in The Lancet, the researchers highlighted values that seem to be duplicated, and warn that the paper presents its results only as box plots without providing a detailed breakdown of the data on which they are based. “While the research described in this study is potentially significant, the presentation of the data raises several concerns which require access to the original data to fully investigate”, the letter says. It has so far been signed by 38 scientists.

The trials tested two slightly different viral-vector vaccines — which use genetically engineered adenoviruses to produce coronavirus proteins in the body — on 76 volunteers. The results indicated that the vaccine produced a strong immune response, and that side effects were limited to mild, short-term effects, such as irritation at injection sites or headaches, in a few people. In August, the Russian authorities approved the vaccine, called Sputnik V, for widespread use, and have said that it could be available to the general public within months.

This fast-track approval caused consternation among researchers, who argued that the decision to roll out the vaccine before larger safety and efficacy trials had been completed was dangerously rushed.

The open letter was posted on a blog run by molecular biologist Enrico Bucci, who heads a science-integrity company called Resis in Samone, Italy. Bucci says that he noticed irregularities in the Lancet paper soon after it was published.

For example, in one figure in which the authors report their measurements of markers of a type of immune cell in the blood, many members of two groups of nine volunteers tested with different formulations of the vaccine seem to have the same levels. “The odds of this arising by coincidence are extremely small,” Bucci says.

“To see such similar data patterns between unrelated measurements is really not likely,” says Konstantin Andreev, who studies viral respiratory infections at Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois. “These discrepancies are not minor.” Andreev had been independently concerned about aspects of the clinical trial, and signed the open letter shortly after it was made public.

“We are not alleging scientific misconduct, but asking for clarification about how these apparently similar data points came about,” says Bucci. “When we read reports that Russia had started to inject the vaccine into people outside clinical trials, we felt we had to speak out immediately.” Late-phase clinical trials of the vaccine, which will involve tens of thousands of people, began on August 26.

The paper’s underlying data should be made available, says epidemiologist Michael Favorov, president of DiaPrep Systems, a diagnostics company in Atlanta, Georgia. “We have a lot of questionable data — in terms of its presentation,” he says. “Maybe the data are good — we can’t judge.” He adds that the decision to publish the reports without the underlying data seems unusual. By contrast, when clinical studies involving a coronavirus vaccine that was developed by the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, UK, were published in the same journal2, they were accompanied by a large amount of supplementary data that other researchers were able to scrutinise.

The Russian paper’s lead author, Denis Logunov at the Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, did not respond to requests for comment from Nature’s news team. But he told the Russian news outlet Meduza that he did not intend to respond to the open letter. He denied that there were errors in the publication, and stated that measured antibody levels were “exactly as they were presented” in the figures. He added that he was in contact with the Lancet and “was ready to clarify any issues”.

The Lancet declined to comment on its policy for providing data in support of clinical trials that it publishes, but issued a statement saying that it “has invited the authors of the Russian vaccine study to respond to the questions raised in the open letter by Enrico Bucci”, and that it would continue to follow the situation closely, the report said.

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Neither side gave details of the meeting between India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and China’s General Wei Fenghe – the first high-level contact between the two sides since the standoff erupted months ago in the Himalayan region, where a clash in June killed 20 Indian soldiers.

The ministers met on the sidelines of a gathering of the defence chiefs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, which comprises China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

“Peace and security in the region demands a climate of trust, non-aggression, peaceful resolution of differences and respect for international rules,” Singh said at the meeting.

Wei told Singh the two nations should “cool down” the situation and “maintain peace and tranquility,” the Chinese defence ministry said on its website.

However, it said responsibility for the tension “lies completely with India”. “Not one inch of Chinese territory can be lost,” the Chinese ministry said.

The disputed 3,500-km (2,175-mile) border between the world’s two most populous countries stretches from the Ladakh region in the north to the eastern Indian state of Sikkim.

The latest standoff is over portions of a pristine landscape that boasts the world’s highest landing strip and a glacier that feeds one of the largest irrigation systems in the world.

Tens of thousands of troops from the two nations have been squaring off in difficult terrain above 4,300 meters (14,000 feet) since border skirmishes erupted in April.

However, the Chinese government claimed on September 5 that India was “entirely” responsible for the border stand-off in Ladakh and China will not lose “an inch of its territory”, blaming India for escalating tension along the LAC (Line of Actual Control), which serves as the de factor border between the two countries.

India responded shortly after, with the Defence Ministry noting that China’s actions, including the “amassing of large number of troops… aggressive behaviour and attempts to unilaterally alter the status quo”, were in violation of bilateral agreements.

“Causes and truth of the current tension on the China-India border are clear, and the responsibility entirely lies with India. China cannot lose an inch of its territory, and its armed forces are fully determined, capable and confident in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the Chinese said in their statement.

China also called on India to “earnestly implement important consensus reached by President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and insist on resolving the issue through dialogue and consultation”

The Defence Ministry responded saying that India too was “determined to protect (its) sovereignty and territorial integrity”, but urged China against further escalation and said it was keen for China to “work with the Indian side for complete disengagement at the earliest…”

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It will be the first high-level meeting between the two sides after the border row escalated in eastern Ladakh in early May though External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held telephonic talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on the row.

Singh and Wei are in Moscow to attend a meeting of the SCO defence ministers. It is reported that meeting has been requested by the Chinese Defence Minister.

Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a bitter standoff in multiple places in eastern Ladakh.

Tensions increased in the region after China unsuccessfully attempted to occupy Indian territory in the southern bank of Pangong lake five days back when the two sides were engaged in diplomatic and military talks to resolve the festering border row.

India occupied a number of strategic heights on the southern bank of Pangong lake and strengthened its presence in Finger 2 and Finger 3 areas in the region to thwart any Chinese actions. China has strongly objected to India’s move. India has also rushed in additional troops and weapons to the sensitive region following the Chinese attempts.

Army Chief Gen MM Naravane is currently on a two-day visit to Ladakh to carry out a comprehensive review of the security situation in the region in view of the Chinese attempts.

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