OREANDA-NEWS. Maldives are interested in the development of military and military-technical cooperation with Russia. This was announced on Friday by the Minister of Defense and National Security of the Republic Maria Ahmed Didi at the talks in Moscow with the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergey Shoigu. “A long time ago, relations between our countries developed such relations that Russian equipment was delivered to our country. And in the future, of course, we wanted to continue these relations”, said the head of the Ministry of Defense of the Maldives. According to her, between the two countries "there are long-term friendly relations". “I would like to talk about relations in the field of military cooperation”, said Didi.

She noted that she had met with the Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, with whom she discussed issues of bilateral cooperation. "We expressed our interest in developing cooperation on the defense line, as well as on equipment issues," the minister said.

She conveyed to Shoigu words of gratitude from the President of the Maldives. “We attach great importance to today's meeting”, Didi said. “We have the opportunity to exchange views, to meet face to face, to personally know those responsible for the defense in their states. When the dialogue is conducted in person, of course, the relationship goes on completely new level".

According to the RF Ministry of Defense, the meeting "was held in a warm and friendly atmosphere". "A thorough exchange of views took place on bilateral military and military-technical cooperation. The parties outlined the prospects for Russian-Maldivian cooperation and outlined practical steps for its consistent development", the ministry said.