Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived on Wednesday for his first-ever visit to the Central African country of Chad, Anadolu Agency reported.
Lavrov’s plane landed in Chad’s capital N’Djamena, where he plans to hold a series of meetings, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Chad will be the fourth and final stop on his African tour, following Guinea, the Republic of Congo, and Burkina Faso.
Speaking at a news conference in the capital N’Djamena, Lavrov, on his first official visit to Chad, said the two states have already signed several agreements, paving legal framework for growing defense and security cooperation.
Lavrov met Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah and President Mahamat Idriss Debi Itno, who took charge after his father Idriss Deby was killed in a battle with rebel forces in 2021.
“We are developing cooperation in the field of security. Chad is interested in this, given that terrorist threats still persist in this region, which are primarily associated with the destruction of Libyan statehood in 2011, and this was the main source of those terrorist extremist manifestations that now persist in the Sahara-Sahel zone, in West Africa and other parts of the continent,” he said.
The minister emphasized that Russia’s relations with Chad are not directed against other countries, including France, which considers the African state its “sphere of influence.”
“I can guarantee you that our friendship with Chad will not affect our relations with France in any way. France has other approaches, it proceeds from the fact that either you are with us or you are against us,” he said.
Russia and Chad are also working at enhancing economic ties and Moscow will form a special group to discuss promising projects, the minister said.
“The president [Mahamat Idriss Debi Itno] showed particular interest in the peaceful use of nuclear energy, mentioned the experience that our state corporation Rosatom has already accumulated in cooperation with African and not only African countries, being one of the leaders of technologies for the peaceful use of nuclear energy,” he said.
Russia had very close cooperation with Chad during the Soviet era, and in recent years, the cooperation started to revive. In December 2021, Chad’s foreign minister visited Moscow, and last July, a delegation from the country took part in the second Russia-Africa summit and economic forum in St. Petersburg.
On Jan. 24, Chad’s President Mahamat Debi Itno visited Moscow, and during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he called his visit “historic.”
Peoplesmind