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RF to provide USD one mln to Djibouti to fight drought – Lavrov

Lavrov called for convincing the warring sides in Yemen to come to an agreement

MOSCOW, October 6 (Itar-Tass) — Russia will provide one million U.S. dollars to Djibouti to fight the drought, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

After the talks with Djibouti Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Yusuf on Thursday, Lavrov said, “Due to the drought that affects the Horn of Africa, the Russian government took a decision to render humanitarian aid to the countries of region, including one million U.S. dollars to Djibouti.”

Lavrov noted that this was the first visit to Russia by the Djibouti foreign minister. In his words, cooperation between the two countries develops successfully and the positions on many regional and international issues are close or coincide.

For his part, Ali Yusuf praised the participation of Russian businessmen’s in the Djibouti economy. “We are glad that Gazprom moved to Djibouti’s market. We are ready to give preferences and create comfortable conditions for Russian companies,” he said.

“Today our businessmen are planning to have meetings at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,” Ali Yusuf said.

Lavrov called for convincing the warring sides in Yemen to come to an agreement.

Lavrov said, “It is important to convince the sides to come to an agreement, which will allow both parties to reach national reconciliation and overcome the current deepest crisis.”

According to the Russian minister, Russia and Djibouti actively cooperate in the settlement of the situation in Yemen.

“We cooperate to solve problems that Ethiopia and Eritrea faced. Today we’ve discussed the situation,” he added.

“We are concerned over the escalation of tension. We insist Ethiopian and Eritrean negotiators to comply with the U.N. Security Council resolutions on this aspect and the earlier reached Algerian agreements,” Lavrov stressed.

Lavrov also said Russia sought to provide military-technical assistance to Djibouti to fighting terrorism and piracy.

Lavrov said, “Enduring military-technical cooperation unites Russia and Djibouti. Servicemen from Djibouti regularly train at schools of the Russian Defence Ministry. Our specialists man helicopter and automobile technique, which is supplied to Djibouti.”

“There are prospects for the development of such cooperation. Russia wants our friends in Djibouti to respond to challenges for fighting terrorism and piracy,” the Russian foreign minister stressed.

Lavrov said, “Enduring military-technical cooperation unites Russia and Djibouti. Servicemen from Djibouti regularly train at schools of the Russian Defence Ministry. Our specialists man helicopter and automobile technique, which is supplied to Djibouti.”

“There are prospects for the development of such cooperation. Russia wants our friends in Djibouti to respond to challenges for fighting terrorism and piracy,” the Russian foreign minister stressed.

“Djibouti deploys different international military forces, which are aimed at fighting piracy and terrorism. We have several bases for the international coalition, which combat terrorism, and for European forces, which uphold Operation ATALANTA for convoying merchant ships that is why no wonder Russian ships enter Djibouti ports,” the Djibouti minister said.

“We hope to sign a new agreement on military-technical cooperation with Russia because we’ve been cooperating for 20 years in this field. We hope to develop a legal base of such cooperation,” Ali Yusuf said.

“Piracy became one of the phenomena of international life that we should fight. The Gulf of Aden is one of the most intensive navigation routes in this region that is why we hope that we will be able to make this route securer.” “We will use all possible means to fight piracy. Within AMISOM [the African Union Mission in Somalia] we deployed military forces in Mogadishu in order to ensure peace in these countries and stabilise the situation in the region,” the Djibouti minister pointed out.