Begian national Felix Tshisekedi who is Democratic Republic of Congo president has agreed to give Russian dictator Vladimir Putin high grade uranium from Shinkolobwe in Katanga in exchange of military support that will annihilate the notorious M23 rebels.
Putin has since issued a decree couched as cooperation of the military with the DRC.
A draft military cooperation agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was published Tuesday on the official Russian legal information portal.
“In accordance with Article 11 of the Russian Federal Law On International Agreements of Russia, (the government) approved the draft agreement on military cooperation with the Democratic Republic of the Congo presented by the Russian Defense Ministry in coordination with the Russian Foreign Ministry and other relevant federal executive bodies,” the document cited by the state agency Tass reads.
The agreement, available on the portal, provides that Russia will conduct military exercises and joint operations in the DRC.
Putin’s soldiers, at the invitation of Tshisekedi, will participate and monitor any military exercise on the Congolese border.
Russia will also provide warships and combat aircraft, training of militar personnel and offer any other cooperation necessary.
The development is against Tshisekedi’s declaration in October 2022 when he ruled out calling on Russian “mercenaries” from the Wagner group to help him overcome persistent insecurity in eastern DRC as some African countries had done.
“I know it’s fashionable now… (but) no, we don’t need to use mercenaries,” he told the British business newspaper ‘Financial Times’ (FT) during the FT Africa Summit which was held in London.
A few months later, however, the Kinshasa government admitted the presence of foreign technical experts to ensure the implementation of combat planes and helicopters.
At the beginning of February, two Romanian “soldiers” died during clashes between the Congolese army and the rebels of the M23 (March 23 Movement) in the province of North Kivu. The two were working for a Romanian “private military company” headed by Horatiu Potra, a former member of the French Foreign Legion of Romanian origin.
Tshisekedi will in turn to Russia’s military support give the Kremlin access to uranium especially the one found at Shinkolobwe which is near Likasi in Katanga.
