Russia and Algeria enjoy a long-standing military cooperation but media reports about Moscow’s request to establish a military base in the African state are not true.
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Algerian Ambassador to Russia Smail Allaoua dismissed information about Russia’s alleged request to set up a military base in Algeria, in an interview to Sputnik. “The establishment of Russian military bases in Algeria is non-negotiable.
The ambassador added that Russia and Algeria enjoyed a long-standing military cooperation, however currently there were no plans for any joint drills.
Russia is a primary arms exporter to Algeria. A significant set of agreements, worth a total of $7.5 billion, was signed in 2005-2006, under which Russia sold Algeria military hardware. In September 2015, Moscow and Algiers signed a contact for the delivery of 14 Su-30MKA fighters to Algeria in 2016-2017. In late February, the two countries laid out a roadmap for deepening bilateral economic and military cooperation during Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Algeria.
Source: Algeria Receives No Russian Request to Set Up Military Base in Country
