Mali has been drawing closer to Russia for several years and it intends to rapidly increase its military potential with the assistance of Russia, Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
Russia’s Deputy Defence Minister Yunus-Bek Yevkurov visited Bamako in early June as part of a regional tour.
According to the head of Mali’s diplomacy, this visit reflects Mali’s desire to speed up the implementation of the plan to “strengthen military and defence capabilities.”
The Malian minister said that the visit was also part of the ongoing dialogue aimed at strengthening the strategic military partnership between the two countries, noting that it was “based on strengthening the combat potential of the Malian defence and security forces with a view to achieving greater autonomy, as well as a programme for Malian defence and security and the purchase of military equipment.”
With the arrival of new authorities following a coup d’état in August 2020, followed by a revision of the transition nine months later, Mali’s counter-terrorism strategy has taken a new direction. In this context, relations with Paris have deteriorated in favour of a rapprochement with Moscow.
The French forces of Operation Barkhane, which replaced the Serval intervention in 2014, have given way to Russian trainers, described as mercenaries by Western chanceries, although Bamako continues to deny this.
AC/lb/GIK/APA