The Central African Republic and Russia have been discussing setting up a Russian military base in the CAR, "the discussions are continuing," Rameaux-Claude Bireau, minister of defense of the CAR told Sputnik.
According to the minister, the country is interested in the Russian military base due to security issues the African nation is currently facing.
"But because we have security problems that last, and the Russian military wanted them to be by our army's side in order to help us with these security problems, and then think about the development of the country, these security problems are hindering development efforts, so we want to get it over with," the minister stated.
The minister did not specify when the base would be established, but said that "at the appropriate time we could point it out".
In 2018, Russia dispatched its first military trainers to the Central African Republic. There were 1,890 of them as of February 2023, according to Alexander Bikantov, Russian ambassador to Bangui, and the CAR aims to raise that number.