A senior Russian official criticized some Western politicians for shifting blame over their mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic to China in a recent interview with CCTV. 

"In the face of challenges brought by the pandemic, the easiest thing for these Western countries in trouble is to shift the blame onto countries that are different from them," said Pyotr Olegovich Tolstoy, deputy chairman of the State Duma of Russia. 

"I think blaming China is the last straw for some drowning politicians who already can't take their responsibilities," he added. 

A similar view is shared by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who blasted U.S. attempts to hold China accountable for the spread of the coronavirus on Friday. 

"Justice assumes that no one should accuse anyone of anything without proof," Lavrov said in an online interview with Russia's RBK media holding. 

He said that no country should accuse other states of committing serious actions that have cost people's lives on the basis of "highly likely" without presenting specific facts. 

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Beijing has repeatedly condemned Washington for blame-shifting, urging it to focus on tackling the coronavirus at home and saving American lives. 

According to a report by Politico in late April, the National Republican Senatorial Committee sent campaigns a memo authored by a top Republican strategist advising GOP candidates to address the coronavirus crisis by aggressively attacking China.  

The detailed 57-page memo includes guiding candidates how to deflect public anger on racism to the "cover-up" of the Chinese government and to tie Democratic candidates to the Chinese government, accusing them of being "soft on China." 

The total number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 1.44 million in the United States, with 87,427 deaths reported, according to data released by Johns Hopkins University.