Uganda ‘very satisfied’ with defense ties with Russia – president 

Moscow and Kampala have had excellent bilateral relations dating back to the Soviet period, Yoweri Museveni has said 

Uganda values its military ties with Russia, the president of the East African country, Yoweri Museveni, told the Russian news outlet TASS in an interview published on Saturday. He also commended the Soviet Union for its assistance in Africa’s fight against colonialism.  

Museveni highlighted Uganda's cooperation with Russia in the defense sector, noting that the country purchases weapons and various technologies from Moscow.   

“Today, we are very satisfied with our cooperation with the Russian Federation. We cooperate in the sphere of defense, and we buy high-quality weapons and technologies from Russia,” the Ugandan leader stated.   

He stated that, notwithstanding a brief hiatus during the turbulent period following the collapse of the Soviet Union, relations between Russia and Uganda have always been excellent.  

“We only had a short break after [Soviet leader Mikhail] Gorbachev. It was an unstable period in Russia, and we did not cooperate then. So we had a very good relationship with the Soviet Union, and now we have a very good relationship with Russia,” Museveni stressed.

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The Ugandan president also confirmed that he “will definitely come to St. Petersburg in July” to attend the Russia-Africa summit, adding that “in this issue, the political will is of crucial importance. It is not an issue of needs, but an issue of ideology. As long as you profess the ideology of equality and brotherhood, the other things are simply details.”  

The second Russia-Africa summit is set to take place in St. Petersburg over July 26-29. The first rendition of the event was held in Sochi in October 2019 and was dubbed ‘For Peace, Security, and Development’.  

Museveni met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the 2019 summit in Sochi during which the two discussed a number of areas of mutual interest. Putin highlighted several joint economic projects in Uganda, including a cotton processing plant that operates with Russian capital and a trading house in Kampala that supplies Russian-made consumer goods. His Ugandan counterpart emphasized his country’s intention to strengthen defense and security by purchasing more Russian equipment, aircraft, and tanks.