SINGAPORE, Nov 14 (Bernama) -- Russia is offering Malaysia to buy its airplanes, said Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
The offer was made during a bilateral meeting between the Malaysian Prime Minister and Russian President Vladimir Putin last night.
“He (Putin) raised a possibility of selling their airplanes to us. That depends on how much money that we have,” Dr Mahathir told reporters after receiving a courtesy call from International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde here.
Dr Mahathir is here for the 33th Asean Summit and its related Meetings, while Lagarde is here as a guest.
However, Dr Mahathir did not disclose whether the offer was for military or commercial purposes.
Asked whether Russia would help maintain the aircraft bought from Moscow, Dr Mahathir said: “He will help us. We have a fleet of Sukhoi.. some of them (are) not flying.”
During the bilateral meeting with Russia, Dr Mahathir said that Malaysia needed “to learn more how to maintain and repair the aircraft.”
Malaysia's Ministry of Defence has been operating Sukhoi Su-30MKM and MiG-29 fighter jets.
It has been reported that there were issues with regard to their maintenance and service.
Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu had said only four of the 18 Sukhoi jets were able to fly well, while the rest were under repair.
-- BERNAMA
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