West African country Mali has revealed that it plans to maintain strong ties with Russia stating that it remains key in helping her to tackle its numerous security challenges.
Africa Daily News, New York gathered that during a trip to Moscow, the foreign minister, Abdoulaye Diop, said the very existence of the Malian state was under threat.
He added that with instability continuing, Russia was a trusted ally who could be relied upon.
‘Whenever Mali has been in difficult situations since our independence, Russia has always been with us. Today we are in a difficult situation and we are still turning to this friend so that they can help us out,’ Mr Diop said.
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Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, dismissed French concerns about Russian mercenaries in Mali.
He said Russia would continue to supply the country with arms and ammunition.
There’s increasing hostility in Mali to the presence of French forces, who’ve been trying to quell an Islamist insurgency for the past eight years. France has started to withdraw troops.
Africa Daily News, New York had earlier reported that at its third Extraordinary Summit of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) upheld the sanctions imposed on Guinea and Mali for several violations.
The West African regional grouping ECOWAS according to reports hardened its stance against military-ruled Mali and Guinea, imposing new individual sanctions and calling on both countries to honour timetables for a return to democracy.
AFRICA DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK
