Russia pledges fresh military supplies, instructors to Burkina Faso
The Russian government has promised to dispatch additional military supplies and instructors to Burkina Faso to boost the West African defence capabilities and fight terrorism.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this as he continued his tour of some countries in Africa.
After emerging under a military leader since 2022, Burkina Faso has played host to contingents of the Wagner mercenary force, whose founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash last August.
During his visit, Mr. Lavrov praised the good relations between Burkina Faso and Russia, including the development of military and military-technical ties.
He told a press conference in the capital Ouagadougou that with cooperation with Russia, “the remaining pockets of terrorism on the territory of Burkina Faso will be destroyed.”
Lavrov has been on a tour of Africa, where he has visited Guinea, Congo and now Burkina Faso.
Russia’s growing security relationship with Africa, including countries such as Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, where military leaders have seized power in coups, has unsettled the U.S. and other Western governments.
Apart from the military alliance, Moscow has gone further to grab their shares of mineral explorations in Africa.
In recent times, it entered into negotiations with the government of Sierra Leone on a bauxite mining concession.
Russia’s top diamond producer Alrosa was also planning talks with Sierra Leone.
