LONDON: British foreign minister Dominic Raab on Wednesday said that the European Commission's threat to ban exports of COVID-19 exports cut across previous assurances, adding that Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen needed to explain herself.

"I think it takes some explaining because the world's watching ... It also cuts across the direct assurances that we had from the Commission," Raab told Reuters in an interview.

"We expect those assurances and legal contracted supply to be respected. Frankly, I'm surprised we're having this conversation."