Nigerian President Muhammadu
Buhari will sign a military technical cooperation deal with Russia at talks
with President Vladimir Putin this month that will help it fight Boko Haram
militants, Nigeria’s ambassador in Moscow said on Friday.
The Nigerian leader is due to
meet Putin on the sidelines of a Russia-Africa summit on October 24 in the
Black Sea city of Sochi amid a push by Moscow to expand its influence in
Africa.
“We’re sure that with Russian
help we’ll manage to crush Boko Haram, given Russia’s experience combating
Islamic State in Syria,” Nigerian envoy Steve Ugbah said in an interview with
Russia’s RIA news agency.
He added that Nigeria was
interested in purchasing Russian helicopters, planes, tanks and other military
equipment.
Ugbah said a military technical
cooperation deal between Russia and Nigeria had already been drafted and that
it only needed to be finalised.
“We hope President Buhari can
take the talks to their logical end … The agreement will open new possibilities
in such areas as the supply of military equipment and training for
specialists,” he said.
The Sochi summit will be
co-chaired by President Vladimir Putin and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of
Egypt, who also heads the African Union.
It is the first event of this
level in the history of Russian-African relations, with the heads of all states
of the African continent invited, as well as leaders of major subregional
associations and organisations.
All African leaders are expected
to attend. At the end of the meeting, the participants are to adopt a political
declaration on the key areas of Russian-African cooperation.
On October 23, the leaders of Russia
and Egypt will also open an economic forum attended by Russian and African
officials and representatives of major businesses. A package of trade, economic
and investment agreements is expected to be signed following the high-level
forum.
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