Ethiopia wants to continue modernising its armed forces, in particular its peacekeeping and counterterrorism capabilities, in cooperation with Russia, and the next bilateral meeting on the defence partnership may be held in November, Ethiopian Ambassador to Russia Alemayehu Tegenu said in an interview.
"The meeting was very successful. The committee reached a lot of agreements. The next meeting will be conducted this year in Addis Ababa, probably in November. We will continue working with Russia because we want to modernise our military force. As you know, our military is very strong in the region, participating in peacekeeping operations, working to combat terrorism too. In this regard we always want to cooperate with countries like Russia", Tegenu said.
He added that Ethiopia would continue contributing its troops to the regional peacekeeping forces but would at the same time welcome international support.
Tegenu also said that Ethiopia would be very happy to receive Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin has never been on an official visit to Ethiopia. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew previously invited Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to come to Ethiopia.
