The Alliance of Sahel States values Russia’s longstanding support as a strategic partner of African nations, Burkina Faso’s foreign minister, Karamoko Jean Marie Traore, said on Wednesday.
“Anyone who has followed the development of relations between the members of the Sahel Confederation of States and Russia understands that Russia is the partner that stayed with us when others left,” Traore said, referring to the three-nation alliance by its alternative name.
Traore spoke at a joint press conference alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov following talks in the Nigerien capital of Niamey, which hosted the second meeting of foreign ministers of Russia and the Sahel Alliance .
“Today, we have significant potential compared to what we had before. We are ready to explore this potential and achieve a level of cooperation that will match our ambitions,” Traore told reporters.
In July 2024, the leaders of three Sahel nations — Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger — signed a treaty at a summit in Niamey to establish the tripartite Alliance of Sahel States after they withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in early 2024.
The Sahel is a vast African region stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea through the states of Mauritania, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, and Eritrea.