Ecuador’s Decision to Deliver Russian Weapons to US Could Have Commercial Repercussions
QUITO (AP) — The diplomatic tension between Ecuador and Russia could begin to have commercial repercussions after the decision of the new government of President Daniel Noboa to deliver Russian weapons that it considers obsolete to the United States.
At the beginning of January and in the midst of an internal armed conflict, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa stated that, as part of security cooperation with the United States, the exchange of “Ukrainian and Russian scrap metal for 200 million dollars” is planned in modern equipment.
However, the decision has raised concerns in Russia. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, María Zajárova, when asked for information about the decision, described it as “thoughtless,” according to a message broadcast on Saturday night by the Russian embassy in Ecuador, through the account X official.
“Our partners are fully aware of the provisions stipulated in the contracts, including the commitment to use the goods they acquire for the announced purposes and not to transfer them to third parties without obtaining the corresponding permission from the Russian side,” Zakharova said.
This statement comes a few hours after the day before an alleged sanction by the Federal Veterinary and Phytosanitary Control Service of the Russian Federation was announced against five banana exporters from Ecuador for alleged non-compliance with phytosanitary standards when a pest was found in the fruit.
For Ecuador’s former undersecretary of international relations, Carlos Estarellas, the two episodes could be related. In statements to The Associated Press, he stated that the tension can be understood by “the annoyance of the Russian government that has taken a measure that in international law is known as coercive measures, in relation to Ecuadorian bananas.”
However, the expert considered that Ecuador “is sovereign over whether or not to deliver this weaponry,” because, in general, arms acquisition contracts “do not usually have this prohibition.” But he commented that the resolution of the impasse will depend on the ability of Ecuadorian officials.
The executive director of the Banana Marketing and Export Association, Richard Salazar, assured that “exports to Russia continue and are not closed,” except for the problem with these five companies, out of more than 20 that export the product to that country and which will be addressed in a “technical” manner through official channels.
“We export to the whole world and the phytosanitary protocols are super demanding (…) We were surprised by the drastic nature of the sanction,” said Salazar.
Russia represents 20% of Ecuador’s export destination and in 2023 it was the first buyer of Ecuadorian fruit with 72 million boxes of bananas annually, according to figures from the Banana Marketing and Export Association.
The Ecuadorian Ministry of Agriculture reported on Sunday that “it has not been officially notified” by the Russian control body, but a statement is expected in the coming days. Nor has the Foreign Ministry issued information on the subject.