From left, Niger Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangore, Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean Marie Traore, at joint press conference following meeting of foreign ministers of the Alliance of Sahel States in Moscow, Russia Apr. 3, 2025. (Photo credit: mid.ru)
By Gary Raynaldo -DIPLOMATIC TIMES
Military juntas of the Sahel Africa region are moving closer into Moscow’s orbit. The foreign ministers of Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso met Thursday with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow for a summit to strengthen ties. The three West African nations officially left the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in January to form their own union – the Alliance of Sahel States (AES). Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, led by juntas following coups in the past few years, exited ECOWAS because of alleged French influence over the 50-year-old regional bloc. The AES leaders accuse France and its western allies of exploiting their respective countries to secure access to the region’s vast mineral wealth. The African foreign ministers were invited to Moscow by Lavrov for the first meeting of the Russia-AES alliance. Niger’s Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangore, Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop, and Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean Marie Traore attended the Moscow meeting.
“The Alliance of Sahel States is a bright evidence of Africa’s second revival and the Africans’ striving to play an active and independent role in global affairs and to shake off the remains of their colonial dependence.”
-Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov statement
Lavrov accused Ukraine of helping former colonial powers to “destabilise” the region. “Some non-regional players have not abandoned their attempts to destabilise the region. The group of former colonial powers has recently been joined by the Kiev regime, which is openly supporting terrorist groups in that part of Africa with the connivance of its Western sponsors,” Lavrov claimed in the statement. The Russian foreign minister added that Moscow is prepared to help strengthen the military and security forces of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso. “For our part, I have emphasised Moscow’s readiness to provide all-round assistance to strengthening the potential of the united armed forces of the Alliance of Sahel States, enhancing the combat ability of each of the three countries’ national armed forces, and training military and law enforcement personnel for them.” Russia’s military footprint in mineral-rich Sahel Africa has been growing over the past years as Moscow strategically taps into anti-Western sentiment. The recent military coups in the Sahel have ousted governments viewed as being too cozy to France and the West, and failing to eradicate poverty and widespread youth unemployment.
