Russia said on Wednesday it has decided to postpone the summit of the BRICS nations, initially scheduled to be held in St. Petersburg in July, due to the spread of the novel Coronavirus

The meeting of the heads of State Council of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has also been postponed. The events were due to be hosted by St Petersburg on July 21-23.

"The new dates for the summits will be determined depending on the further development of the epidemiological situation in the states of the groupings and around the world," the organising committee said in a statement.