The president of Guinea-Bissau, Umaro Sissoco Embaló, has shown interest in acquiring frigates and helicopters from Russia, which, according to his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, can help the African country combat piracy.
According to the Russian news agency Sputnik, Sissoco Embaló said during a meeting with Putin at the Kremlin, the seat of the Russian government, in Moscow on Tuesday, that Guinea-Bissau wants to buy Russian frigates for its navy.
“Maybe Russia can provide us with those ships and then see how to pay for the acquisition of these frigates. We can also order helicopters. We will study how the two parties can settle scores”, said Sissoco Embaló.
According to Sputnik, Vladimir Putin appealed, in the meeting with the Guinean president, for cooperation between Russia and Guinea-Bissau in the fight against piracy and in the exploitation of fishery resources.
In July, French President Emmanuel Macron announced at the end of a visit to Bissau that France would support the training of military personnel in Guinea-Bissau, as part of a program to support the fight against drug trafficking and maritime piracy.
The waters of the Gulf of Guinea, rich in crude oil, natural gas and fishery resources, are increasingly exposed to piracy, security officials in the region, which stretches from Senegal to Angola, said at a symposium in November.
The Gulf of Guinea recorded 13 incidents of piracy and armed robbery between January and September, less than half the number recorded in the same period, the International Maritime Organization said on Oct. 12.
According to the Spanish news agency Efe, Sissoco Embaló, who is also president of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), defended dialogue at the meeting with Putin to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
“The situation created by the war between two brother peoples undermined the conquests throughout the world, including in cereals and fertilizers,” said the Guinean leader.
Russia has prioritized relations with Africa, whose officials have been among the few world leaders to visit Moscow in recent months.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited several African countries in the summer in an attempt to seek alternatives for cooperation with the West.
The military offensive launched on February 24 by Russia in Ukraine has already caused the flight of more than 13 million people -more than six million internally displaced persons and more than 7.5 million to European countries-, according to the most recent data from the UN, which places this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since the Second World War (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion was condemned by the international community at large, which has responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and imposing political and economic sanctions on Russia.
The UN presented as confirmed since the beginning of the war 6,114 civilian deaths and 9,132 wounded, stressing that these figures are far below the real ones.
Source: TSF
