Burundi president Evariste Ndayishimiye made clear of his country’s position on the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine that erupted early this year.
President Evariste Ndayishimiye while addressing the journalists in the state house last week was asked whether Russia’s donation of fuel to the country could jeopardize the country’s relation with the European Union.
“Burundi will always be part of the solution and not part of the problem. We are neutral and they should leave us to solve our own problems…EU relation with us has improved significantly and we are the one to show them our priority programs and they are soon going to build a school of agriculture,” said president Evariste Ndayishimiye.
In February this year the European Union announced the lifting of sanctions against Burundi that were imposed since 2016. In a communique EU indicated that the move to lift sanctions against Burundi came after peaceful political process that started with the general elections of May 2020 and that it opened a new window of hope for the population of Burundi.
The war in Ukraine has seen more than 14,000 civilians and army from both sides losing their life since its eruption almost three months ago.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky addressed EU, UK and US parliament on the state of war in his country, however his request to address the African Union remained futile as African Union said it didn’t want to be drawn in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.