Russia Will Support Rehabilitation Efforts in Ethiopia: Ambassador Terekhin

The Russian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Evgeny Terekhin, told ENA that his country will contribute to rehabilitation activities in Ethiopia after getting a clear understanding of the basic and most pressing needs of the public and the damages caused by the conflict.

The ambassador said that he understands the extent of destruction on infrastructures due to the conflict which will take enormous effort to rehabilitate.

“We understand that to rehabilitate what was damaged or destroyed will take a lot of effort, enormous efforts,” he noted, adding that “we are of course thinking about how we could help to overcome the present situation.”

However, the Russian government first needs to get clear understanding of the basic and most pressing needs.

According to him, it is necessary that the Ethiopian government finalizes the estimate of the  damages and directions to rehabilitate the economy and social infrastructures at this stage.

Ambassador Terekhin pointed out that “such kinds of conflicts can cause human catastrophe. To overcome the consequences, we first need to get clear understanding of the basic and most pressing needs… At this stage, it is necessary to wait until the Ethiopian government finalizes the estimated damage and what should be done to rehabilitate the economy and the social infrastructure etc. After that, we will study what could be our input into this effort and what we could make concretely to overcome these problems.”

He further said Russia is on the side of the Ethiopian people as always, adding that the bilateral relations and cooperation between the two countries have been developing very smoothly in  political, economic, humanitarian, education and health sectors as well as other spheres.

Recalling the century old glorious relations that started from the times of the struggle against colonialism and fascist occupation of Ethiopia, Ambassador Terekhin reiterated that Russia will support Ethiopia to withstand any attempts to meddle into its internal affairs.

“We are always on the side of the people, in this case on the side of the Ethiopian people who are struggling for their rights to work, live and make their own decision as they like; and to choose their own destiny as they prefer.”

Source: Ethiopia News Agency