https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / News / International News RSS ← Back
Africa|Defence|Reinforcing
Africa|Defence|Reinforcing
africa|defence|reinforcing
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Article Enquiry

Russia, Burkina Faso talk military cooperation

Close

Embed Video

Russia, Burkina Faso talk military cooperation

9th October 2024

By: Reuters

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

Russia's Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and prime minister of Burkina Faso, Apollinaire J. Kyelem de Tambela, discussed in Moscow expanding military ties, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT

Advertisement

Moscow has been pursuing a combination of military, diplomatic, and economic interests in Africa, vying with the West for influence after Russia's war in Ukraine triggered the biggest confrontation between Moscow and Washington in decades.

After Vladimir Putin's landslide win in Russia's presidential election in March, some newspapers in Africa saw Putin's re-election as reinforcing the stance of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Advertisement

Burkina Faso, under military leadership since a 2022 coup, has played host to contingents of the Wagner mercenary force, whose founder Yevgeny Prigozhin was killed in a plane crash in 2024.

In June, Russia said it was sending additional military supplies and instructors to Burkina Faso to help the west African country boost its defence capabilities and fight terrorism.

BY THE NUMBERS

Moscow has so far invested very little in Africa, according to United Nations data. Its arms exports to sub-Saharan Africa have fallen in recent years, according to 2023 data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. But Russia is still the second-largest supplier of weapons to the region.

At the 2023 Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg, Putin said Moscow signed military-technical agreements with 40 African countries, which potentially open the door for more Russian arms sales to the region.

KEY QUOTE

"Russia-Burkina relations are based on the principles of mutual respect, consideration of each other's interests and have acquired positive dynamics in recent years," the Russian defence ministry cited Belousov as saying in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options

Email Registration Success

Thank you, you have successfully subscribed to one or more of Creamer Media’s email newsletters. You should start receiving the email newsletters in due course.

Our email newsletters may land in your junk or spam folder. To prevent this, kindly add newsletters@creamermedia.co.za to your address book or safe sender list. If you experience any issues with the receipt of our email newsletters, please email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za