A delegation led by Russia’s Deputy Defense Minister, Army General Yevkurov, has been received by the Interim President of Mali, Assimi Goïta. The visit comes after Yevkurov signed a military cooperation agreement with Equatorial Guinea and met with the President of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, just prior to his trip to Mali.
According to the Russian news agency African Initiative, Yevkurov also met with Mali’s Defense Minister, Sadio Camara, to discuss security issues in the Sahel region and the prospects for expanding cooperation between Russia and Mali. The focus of the meeting was on fulfilling earlier bilateral agreements on military-technical cooperation.
The north of Mali is the epicenter of a deadly jihadist insurgency in the Sahel region, which broke out in 2012 and has since spread to neighboring countries Niger and Burkina Faso. According to the non-profit organization Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, the number of fatalities in the three West African countries reached a historical high of 7,620 in the first half of 2024.
In February, Moscow announced that it would support the Alliance of Sahel States in strengthening their capabilities for counter-terrorism and improving the combat capabilities of their armed forces through the dispatch of military experts and equipment, as well as the training of military and law enforcement personnel and socio-economic development in the region’s countries.