Russia accuses West of seeking to destabilise Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger

The West is attempting to destabilise the situation in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger, countries with which Russia’s cooperation is gaining momentum, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said in an interview with TASS.

“In line with the objectives of the 2023 Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation—specifically, supporting the sovereignty and independence of African states by providing assistance in the field of security, as well as facilitating the settlement and resolution of armed conflicts on the African continent—we are contributing to the strengthening of the defense capabilities of African countries,” Vershinin said. “We are helping to build their capacity to counter internal and external threats, primarily terrorism.”

According to him, the prospects for building a sustainable architecture of Africa’s socio-economic, investment, infrastructure, and technological development are “difficult to imagine without the swift resolution of the acute challenges facing the continent in the areas of peace and security.”

“These problems are real, and their impact on the situation in Africa should not be underestimated,” the diplomat noted. “They include, above all, the threats of terrorism and extremism, transnational crime, internal political crises, interethnic conflicts, and interstate tensions. The situation is particularly difficult in the Saharan-Sahel region, the Horn of Africa, and the Great Lakes region.”

Moscow believes that effective and long-term conflict resolution in regional hotspots can be achieved primarily “through the leading role of Africans themselves in this process and solely in their own interests.”

“Our approaches in this area are based on unconditional respect for the sovereignty of African states, the principles of mutual respect and equality, the non-imposition of ready-made solutions, and the provision of assistance in the areas and to the extent requested by our African partners,” Vershinin said. “We consistently support the cornerstone principle of ‘African solutions to African problems’ and the key goal set by the African Union in its ‘Agenda 2063’—to ‘silence the guns’ by 2030.”

By Tamilla Hasanova