Interim President Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso said on Thursday that Russia had become an important strategic ally, but he denied that Russian mercenaries were assisting Burkinabe soldiers in their struggle against Islamist armed groups.
The West African country’s relations with Moscow have come under scrutiny after it kicked out French troops in February and terminated an agreement that allowed France to battle insurgents there, amid an increase in anti-French sentiment in the region.
Traore was asked in a rare televised interview who Burkina Faso’s international partners were currently in the conflict that has killed thousands and displaced about 2.5 million people in the Sahel area over the last decade.
“The departure of the French army does not mean that France is not an ally,” Traore replied. “But we have strategic allies too. We have new forms of cooperation. Russia, for example, is a strategic ally.”
He said Russia was a major supplier of military equipment and would remain so, without giving further details.
“I am satisfied with the cooperation with Russia. It’s frank,” he said, sitting on an ornate chair in military fatigues and a beret.
Western countries are concerned about Russia’s growing influence in Africa’s Sahel region and border territories. France withdrew its forces from Mali last year after the country’s junta began collaborating with Russian military contractor Wagner Group to combat terrorists affiliated with al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
Traore was asked to comment on rumors that Wagner soldiers are also in Burkina Faso.
“Our army fights alone,” he explained. “Wagner’s presence was invented to cause harm to Burkina, so that countries would not cooperate with us.”
Burkina Faso’s instability prompted two coups last year by the military, which has sworn to reclaim control of the country but has so far been unable to stop attacks.
The region’s unrest started in neighboring Mali in 2012, when Islamists hijacked a Tuareg separatist revolt. Since then, the violence has extended to Burkina Faso and Niger, threatening to destabilize coastal countries further afield.
