APA – Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) – Relations between Burkina Faso and Russia have been on an upward trajectory since Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in September 2023.
The Russian Deputy Defense Minister is in Ouagadougou, where he met the Burkinabe junta leader on Thursday, the Presidency reported.
Colonel-General Younous-Bek Evkourov held talks with Captain Ibrahim Traore, to whom he reaffirmed Russia’s support, and discussed the prospects for cooperation between Moscow and Ouagadougou, particularly in the military sphere.
“This covers all areas, including military and technical cooperation, but also cooperation in the fields of the economy, nuclear energy and all issues that could give rise to cooperation,” the Russian Deputy Minister explained as he emerged from the talks.
Security cooperation involves the training of Burkinabe officer cadets and officers at all levels, including pilots in Russia, Colonel-General Evkourov added.
He also mentioned the commitments made by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traore at the 2nd Russia-Africa Summit, held in St Petersburg at the end of July.
Ouagadougou and Moscow drew considerably closer in the wake of the putsch that brought Captain Traore to power.
In mid-August, Burkina Faso took part, alongside some sixty other countries, in the 11th Moscow conference on international security.
At the same time, the authorities announced the forthcoming opening of a Russian diplomatic representation in Burkina.
On several occasions, the army has expressed its gratitude to Moscow for obtaining military equipment to deal with the armed militant groups that have infested the country since 2015, claiming victims and displacing large numbers of people.
SD/ac/fss/as/APA