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Algeria buys Russian arms but keeps Moscow at arm's length

Despite a long-standing relationship whereby Algeria buys Russian weaponry, the two nations seem to have trouble seeing eye to eye.
Algeria's President Abdelaziz Bouteflika (R) meets Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the presidential palace in Algiers February 11, 2013. REUTERS/Stringer (ALGERIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3DNG9

Notwithstanding its extensive arms trade with Algeria, Russia’s political relations with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and his government seem curiously constrained.

On one hand, Algeria is a top market for Russian weapons. For example, Russian media have only recently reported a massive 2014 deal under which Algeria will assemble 200 T-90 tanks using kits supplied by Russia’s state arms supplier Rosoboronexport — a contract one Russian military expert estimated at $1 billion and described as “possibly the largest export contract for main battle tanks in the world.” 

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