(Dan Tri) – Moscow said that Ecuador canceled its plan to transfer Russian-made weapons to Ukraine through the US.

An Ecuadorian weapon system (Photo: Defense Express).

According to Russia’s Ambassador to Ecuador Vladimir Sprinchan, the South American country has canceled plans to send old military equipment produced by Russia and Ukraine to the US in exchange for new equipment worth $200 million.

Speaking to RIA after meeting with Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa on February 16, Mr. Sprinchan said Ecuador had reversed its plan, emphasizing that it did not want to be dragged into the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

`Ecuador’s position is not to send weapons and ammunition to war zones but to contribute to resolving conflicts peacefully, through diplomatic tools,` Mr. Sprinchan said.

When asked if that meant Ecuador would cancel the above plan, Mr. Sprinchan only answered yes, adding that this decision would `be officially announced early next week`.

Previously, Russia condemned the American country Lalinh Ecuador for planning to transfer weapons produced by Moscow to the US so that Washington could aid Ukraine.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on February 2 that this was a `reckless` violation of the military sales contract.

At that time, Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, told RIA news agency that Ecuador’s decision was made under pressure from outside forces.

`Our partners understand the terms of the contract, which include the obligation to use the provided equipment for the stated purposes and not to transfer the equipment to third parties without their consent.

Washington has admitted that it is searching for Soviet-era weapons in many parts of the world, including Latin America and the Caribbean.

Previously, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on January 30 accused Western powers of asking several countries to secretly provide Russian-made weapons to Ukraine.

He did not specify which countries, but affirmed that he would continue to require all international obligations related to arms transfers to be complied with.

Lavrov pointed out that when a foreign country legally purchases Russian weapons, the shipments come with certain documents, including end-user certificates.

`According to this certificate, the recipient of the weapon has no right to resell or transfer it anywhere without the consent of the supplying country,` he explained.

After Ecuador announced its initial plan to transfer weapons to Ukraine, Russia’s food safety regulator, Rosselkhoznadzor, announced a partial ban on banana imports from Ecuador, one of the fruit’s exporting countries.

However, Russia stated that this move was not related to Ecuador’s weapons transfer plan.