Ecuador Confirms US Weapons Swap Is Off After Russian Protest

  • Noboa says his country won’t become a party to Ukraine war
  • President expresses ‘surprise’ at Washington’s plans for arms
A military officer stands guard during a campaign rally for Daniel Noboa in Guayaquil, Ecuador last October.Photographer: Vicente Gaibor/Bloomberg
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Ecuador canceled plans to swap decades-old Russian weapons with the US after learning they would be delivered to Ukraine, President Daniel Noboa said in an interview with CNN.

While he was aware the US wasn’t going to be the final destination for the “scrap” military equipment, “to our own surprise the United States publicly communicated that it’s going to be taken to an armed conflict in Ukraine in which we don’t want to be a party,” the 36-year-old leader told the broadcaster Thursday night.