Kremlin says groundless allegations about coronavirus' artificial origin are unacceptable

Scientists and experts still lack necessary data to determine the nature of the novel coronavirus, and any groundless allegations about its artificial origin are unacceptable, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said his government is trying to determine whether the coronavirus emanated from a lab in Wuhan, following reports the virus may have been artificially synthesized at a Chinese state-backed laboratory or perhaps escaped from such a facility.

The Chinese state-backed Wuhan Institute of Virology dismissed the allegations.

The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that all available evidence suggests the novel coronavirus originated in animals in China late last year and was not manipulated or produced in a laboratory.