Trump downplays Russian lab incident, dismisses bioweapon link

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the U.S. does not believe the death of a Russian lab technician working on plague is linked to a biological weapon, adding Russian authorities claim the situation is fully under control. Trump stated the U.S. will know more soon but does not suspect bioweapon involvement. He also confirmed a planned phone call with Vladimir Putin, noting it was the Russian president's birthday, without specifying a date. Russian officials denied any epidemic risk in Siberia, calling reports "false information" amid growing calls for transparency from the WHO, EU, and U.S. The technician worked at Irkutsk's plague institute, with local media suggesting exposure from a broken test tube.