Русский
A Russian delegation led by Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister has visited Mali and held talks with the West African nation’s officials on strengthening bilateral security cooperation. Yevkurov’s trip to Mali comes after he signed a military cooperation agreement in the Central African Republic during a visit late in February.
Mali’s interim president, General Assimi Goita, met with the Russian delegation on Tuesday (March 4), his office announced. Negotiations between Yevkurov and Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara have focused on the security situation in the Sahel region. The parties also discussed implementing bilateral agreements on military-technical cooperation.
North Mali has been the centre of a jihadist insurgency in the Sahel region, which began in 2012 and has since spread to neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso. All the countries involved were French colonies. Fighting has intensified with fatalities reported across the three West African countries reached an all-time high of about 15,000 in 2024.
The military rulers of Bamako, Niamey, and Ouagadougou have severed defence ties with Paris, accusing France of failing to quell the decade-long violence. Instead, they have jointly sought security cooperation with Moscow in combating terrorism under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) they recently established.
Last September, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Niger’s ambassador to Russia, Abdou Sidikou Isa, held talks about resolving the longstanding conflicts in the Sahel region days after an Al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on a military training school in Bamako, Mali. The discussions in Moscow also came weeks after rebels allegedly backed by Ukraine carried out an ambush that killed scores of Malian soldiers and Russian Wagner Group contractors.
Russia has since assured the African state and its allies Niger and Burkina Faso of its military support. Last month, Anton Kobyakov, an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Moscow has made developing partnerships with Africa a top foreign policy priority. Earlier in February, the Russian Foreign Ministry inaugurated its Department of Partnership with Africa, a move Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said reflects how the Kremlin prioritizes its ties with the continent’s countries.
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