Ukraine denies selling military aircraft to Sudan
KIEV, Ukraine, Nov 19, 2004 (Interfax-Ukraine) — The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has stated that Ukraine has not supplied any military-purpose aircraft to Sudan in violation of UN Security Council sanctions – either directly or via foreign intermediaries.
The head of the Foreign Ministry’s press service, Markiyan Lubkivskyy, said this during a phone-in at the Cabinet of Ministers today, commenting on media reports that An-family aircraft, such as the An-2 and the An-26 — small planes — supposedly delivered to Sudan from Ukraine, were used to bombard the civilian population in that country.
“Ukraine strictly adheres to the existing requirements in the area of controls over international transfers of weapons and military-purpose goods, especially the resolutions of the UN Security Council, and takes into account unilateral warnings in this area from some countries.
In particular, Ukraine strictly abides by the UN Security Council’s resolution No 1556 (2004) of 30 July 2004, in which the countries of the world call for a stop to arms supplies to the militias at the headquarters of northern, southern and eastern Darfur,” Lubkivskyy said.
He stressed that, according to a filial company of the Ukrspetseksport — Ukrainian state arms exporter — and the State Export Control Service of Ukraine, no military-purpose aircraft were supplied. In addition, Lubkivskyy said that the types of aircraft mentioned are not intended for military action, including bombardment, and are not equipped for this.
Material from the BBC Monitoring Service — original text in Russian