Russian foreign minister says developing security cooperation with Chad

By Elena Teslova

MOSCOW (AA) - Russia and Chad continue to develop security cooperation amid terrorist threats the Central African nation has been facing for a long time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday.

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.

Chad was the final destination in Lavrov's Africa tour, which started from Guinea, and also took him to Congo and Burkina Faso.