TSAMTO, January 20. The new Russian ambassador to the CAR, Alexander Bikantov, speaking about possible deliveries of small arms to the country, said that they would depend on bilateral agreements.
"Further arms supplies will depend on bilateral agreements between the countries," he told RIA Novosti, answering the question whether Russia will continue to supply small arms.
As the agency reminds, in 2019, Russia, with the knowledge of the UN Security Council, supplied two batches of small arms to the CAR free of charge. Then Kalashnikov assault rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, pistols and sniper rifles were handed over to the authorities of the country.
At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated that Russia always coordinates with the UN issues related to the Central African Republic, including possible new arms supplies.
According to A. Bikantov, at the moment the UN arms embargo against this country is morally outdated. In an interview with RIA Novosti, he noted that "the arms embargo was imposed on the CAR in 2013, when the country was plunged into civil war, and there was no legitimate government."
"The situation has changed. A democratically elected president has been in power in the CAR since 2016, the legitimacy of whose election is not questioned by the international community," he told RIA Novosti.
"CAR President Faustin Akrange Touadera, in an interview on October 15, 2021, called the arms embargo in the CAR "unfair." And this is true, because terrorists come to the territory of the CAR well armed, and the CAR army does not have such weapons," the Russian ambassador added.
"The arms embargo at the moment is morally outdated for the CAR and harms the establishment of peaceful life in the country," he concluded.