KUBINKA (Moscow region). Aug 21 (Interfax-AVN) - An intergovernmental agreement on military cooperation that Russia and the Central African Republic (CAR) plan to sign on Tuesday will act as the groundwork for a program to train the CAR Armed Forces, CAR Minister of National Defense and Reconstruction of the Army Marie-Noelle Koyara said.
"We have very firm and close relations [with Russia]. Our army's structure was completely broken after the events that took place in our country. Today our main task is to boost the army's combat potential in order to enable it to protect our national territory and our people," Koyara said at talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Tuesday.
"I think that the agreement that we will sign today will become the foundation for training our units," she said.
Relations between the Central African Republic and Russia "have always seen very positive steps for more than 50 years," she said.
"The embassy of the Russian Federation was located in the territory of our country, and Russia's embassy never left the territory of our country during any of the crises," she said.
Koyara also said that in her day she had planned to study medicine in Russia, but eventually chose economics.
"I studied economics in Russia as well, and was in the first group of specialists who studied in Russia," she said.