MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. Moscow has provided free military aid to the Central African Republic at the country’s government’s request, Russian Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman Artyom Kozhin said on Thursday.

"At the request of the Central African Republic’s president, Russia decided to provide the country with free military aid," he said. According to him, with the consent of the United Nations Security Council committee, the Russian Defense Ministry handed a batch of small arms and ammunition to the armed forces of the Central African Republic and sent five military and 170 civilian instructors to train the country’s military servicemen.

Kozhin stressed that the aid "is provided in strict compliance with the UN Security Council’s sanctions" imposed on Central African Republic. "Russia has been providing aid in line with the global community’s efforts aimed at strengthening the Central African Republic’s security forces, handing full security responsibility over to them and finding a sustainable solution to the prolonged internal armed conflict," he added.