Moscow, Apr 18 (IANS): The decision of US President Donald Trump to suspend funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) is "counterproductive and irresponsible", the Russian Foreign Ministry has said.

"We consider Washington's decision to suspend contributions to the WHO's budget and its attempts to blame the WHO for what is happening in the US counterproductive and irresponsible," the ministry's spokesperson Maria Zakharova said at a news briefing on Friday, Xinhua reported.

She added that accusations against the WHO of passivity, opacity and maliciousness are completely groundless.

Zakharova noted that the WHO at all stages of the development of the COVID-19 pandemic acted within its mandate and on the basis of scientific data.

Earlier this week, Trump announced that he had instructed his administration to suspend funding to the WHO, which he accused of "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus."