In three months, Russian weapons and ammunition will be delivered to Bangui with the approval of the United Nations, despite the embargo still in force. The news was announced by the special adviser of the President of the Central African Republic, Fide'le Gouandjika, specifying that "we had to wait three years from the request presented by the presidency to receive new equipment needed by our armed forces (Faca)". A decision that has not been well received by France, the United States and the United Kingdom, which have already asked for more details on the content of the delivery from Moscow to Bangui. Last month France opposed the military supply of Central Africa, but yesterday it abstained instead. The request for a derogation from the arms embargo was presented by Russia to the UN Security Council, which did not receive any formal ban from its members at the end of the procedure, yesterday evening at 20 local time. “Russia has no hidden interests and has never colonized any country. He certainly won't do it with us. It is a very important market that France wanted to obtain and has fought to obtain the same exemption from the UN. In the end, we concluded the sale with Russia, at a lower cost than that of France, ”said Fide'le Gouandjika, advisor to Central African President Faustin Touadera. The weapons and ammunition bought in Moscow - including 900 Makarov pistols, 5.200 Akm assault rifles and 270 RPGs rocket launchers - are intended to equip 1.300 men from two battalions of the Central African Armed Forces, partly trained by the European Union. However, the United Nations has not yet formally lifted the embargo in force since 2013, after the military coup of the Seleka rebellion that ousted the then president Francois Bozize '. The UN green light for arms sales has been defined by the Central African government as "good news" which amounts to a partial removal of the embargo. The government and presidency reiterate the urgency of “deploying well-equipped Central African armed forces in support of the UN peacekeepers to re-establish state authority everywhere as soon as possible.
