11 Nov 2021

Defence cooperation between Botswana and the Russian Federation dates back to the formation of Botswana Defense Force, Mr Kagiso Mmusi has stated.

 Mr Mmusi, who is the Minister of Defence, Justice and Security, said this yesterday during a meeting with Russian Federation ambassador  Mr Andrey Karmerskiy. 

He said the then Soviet Union was one of the first nations to supply Botswana with military weapons. 

The cooperation, he said,  had been codified through the signing of several defence and security agreements. 

Minister Mmusi said the two countries had signed a defence cooperation agreement which followed a corresponding pact on military technical cooperation and another on protection of classified information. 

Currently, an agreement on mutual protection of the results of intellectual activity and intellectual property was being developed, said Mr Mmusi. 

The minister said a contract on admission of Botswana service members for training in Russia’s military educational establishments was also underway. 

“Despite the above, the Russian Federation continues to provide training to our defence and police on subjects ranging from medicine to forensic,” Mr Mmusi said. 

For his part, Ambassador Karmerskiy expressed the desire to see more developments and cooperation in the areas of military training. 

He noted that the Russian Federation had military training cooperation with various African countries and Botswana should similarly benefit. 

Further noting that SADC had announced its intention to build a logistics depot in Botswana, Mr Karmerskiy said the bloc and Russia could devise ways of cooperating in the project. ENDS