Russia to strengthen military ties with Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Ethiopia this month renewed the two countries’ historical ties that go back to 1896.
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom (Ph.D) met with Lavrov and agreed on a number of issues ranging from military cooperation to regional peace and security.
“We presented ideas for further developing our bilateral relationship and our cooperation on international issues,” Sergey Lavrov told journalists after he met PM Hailemariam Desalegn in his office.
Military cooperation and personnel training has been one of the manifestations of the two countries’ friendship.
During the fascist invasion of Ethiopia in 1936, Russia was one of the countries which stood in solidarity with Ethiopia and Russia has been there on every occasion throughout the 20th century whenever Ethiopia faced challenges to its sovereignty and its core national security interests, reads a document obtained from Foreign Affairs Ministry of Ethiopia (MoFA).
This recent visit of the long-serving diplomat Sergey Lavrov also manifested the two countries’ cooperation on economy and trade, not forgetting the main one, military cooperation.
“We have agreed that the draft agreement [the two countries signed in July this year] should be expedited on investment protection and some other issues, including the military technical cooperation, which is the very important element of the Russian Ethiopian relationship,” Sergey Lavrov told journalists.
Lavrov said that the two countries have also reiterated their intent to act together on international issues, resolving conflicts by peaceful means, avoiding unilateral action, especially unilateral use of force.
Regarding bilateral economic cooperation, the two countries have already established an intergovernmental commission, responsible for facilitating and working on economic, trade and scientific cooperation. In this regard, Russia has agreed to cooperate with Ethiopia’s major projects such as energy, hydrocarbon production, agriculture and transport infrastructure.
“We have agreed to encourage Russian investors to come to Ethiopia, and the specific areas are energy and the railway. We have already started cooperation on these two areas and we are very happy that Russia is keen to support these two projects,” Ethiopian Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom told journalists.
The two also discussed regional peace and security, particularly on the politics of the Middle East, Ukraine and on the movement of ISIS, according Tedros.
- Prime Minister – Hailemariam Desalegn