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Central African Republic waiting for Russia’s response on setting up military base — envoy

The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that Moscow had sent an additional group of 300 instructors to train the Central African Republic's troops in response to the authorities’ request for assistance in repelling the onslaught of illegal armed groups

VLADIMIR, April 21. /TASS/. The Central African Republic would like to host a Russian military base but Moscow has not made a final decision yet, the African country’s Ambassador to Russia Leon Dodonou-Pounagaza told TASS during a familiarization trip to the Vladimir region organized for foreign envoys.

"When the State Duma chairman [Vyacheslav Volodin] visited our country, he was asked to convey a request for the creation of a Russian base in the Central African Republic to the relevant Russian officials," the ambassador noted. "I contacted Volodin in December and we even talked about it with [Russian Defense Minister Sergey] Shoigu. No decision has been made yet," Dodonou added.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that Moscow had sent an additional group of 300 instructors to train the Central African Republic's troops in response to the authorities’ request for assistance in repelling the onslaught of illegal armed groups. More than 500 Russian military instructors and advisers are currently active in the country. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly said that Russian instructors are stationed in the Central African Republic on legal grounds, they continue to train the country's troops and do not participate in military activities.