MOSCOW, Mar 23 United States Expresses Displeasure military-technical cooperation between Russia and Myanmar and the fact that Moscow has become the most reliable friend for this East Asian country, said Derek Chollet, an adviser to the US State Department, adding that «Russia must not be allowed to get away with» arms supplies.
Speaking in Indonesia, he said that Russia is currently Myanmar's most trusted friend in the international community, and Moscow is providing support to «fuel the regime's war machine.» This, according to the adviser, «undermines the ASEAN plan to end the violence and resume the national dialogue.»
«If we want to resolve the conflict in Myanmar and return to peace and democracy, then one of the ways is for the military junta to lose the ability to import weapons, and we would take a very big step in this direction if Russia stopped the supply» , — the Indonesian agency ANTARA quotes the words of Cholle.
The adviser arrived in Indonesia the day before to meet with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and discuss joint steps to resolve the conflict in Myanmar. There were no statements from the Indonesian department following the visit.
Shollet added that the US will «find ways to make it harder for Myanmar to get these weapons» by imposing additional sanctions on entities inside Myanmar. In addition to sanctions, the US will also take steps to support ASEAN and increase pressure on the Myanmar government.
So far, the United States has imposed sanctions against 80 individuals and 30 entities in Myanmar.
The Myanmar Armed Forces took power in the country on February 1, 2021, explaining their actions by preventing a possible massive falsification of the results of the 2020 general elections in favor of the then ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party and the unwillingness of the civilian authorities to investigate it. Having come to power through the constitutional mechanism of imposing a state of emergency, the leaders of the new military government promised to hold new elections in a year and transfer power to the party that wins them. In the spring of 2022, at a briefing in Naypyidaw, the official representative of the military authorities, General Zo Ming Tun, called another proposed date for the elections: within two years.
In August last year, the director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) of Russia, Dmitry Shugaev, said that Russia had discussed with Myanmar the supply of new weapons to the Asian country, including armored vehicles. Since 2001, Russia has supplied Myanmar with 30 MiG-29 aircraft, 12 Yak-130 combat trainers, six Su-30SMEs, 10 Mi-24 and Mi-35P helicopters, eight Pechora-2M anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as radar, armored vehicles and artillery systems. In addition, in January 2021, a contract was signed for the supply of Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile and gun systems to Myanmar. Maintenance and modernization of equipment is carried out in a joint service technical center established in Myanmar for servicing all types of equipment, both aviation and armored vehicles.