Lavrov: Mali approached "private Russian military” to fight against terrorism

Mali asked a private Russian
military company to help them fight against terrorists and Moscow is not linked
to this, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a press conference devoted
to the outcome of his visit to New York for the 76th session of the UNGA.
"They turned to a
private military company from Russia given that, as far as I understand, France
wants to significantly reduce its military contingent, which was there and
ought to combat terrorists, who holed up in the area called Kidal. Nothing came
out of this, and terrorists are still running things there," Lavrov said
"Since Mali’s
authorities estimated that their forces were not enough without external
support and since external support is reducing from those who pledged to help
eradicate terrorism, they turned to a private Russian military company,"
Lavrov stated.
Russia’s top diplomat
emphasized that the private Russian military company is carrying out its
activities in Mali on a legitimate basis because these are the relations
between a legitimate government and those who offer respective services.
Mali has approached private
Russian military companies following the French government’s “unilateral”
decision to “abandon” the West African country.
France is preparing to reduce
its military presence in the Sahel region.
Mali Prime Minister Choguel
Kokalla Maiga accused Paris of abandoning his conflict-ravaged country with the
"unilateral" decision to withdraw troops.
Addressing the UN General
Assembly, Maiga said his government was justified to "seek other
partners" to boost security.
“The new situation resulting
from the end of Operation Barkhane [France military operation] puts Mali before
a fait accompli — abandoning us, mid-flight to a certain extent — and it leads
us to explore pathways and means to better ensure our security autonomously, or
with other partners,” the Malian premier said.
European Union foreign policy
chief Josep Borrell said on Friday that he had warned Lavrov and his
counterpart from Mali this week in New York that the potential deployment of
Russian fighters to Mali would be a "red line" for Brussels.
He also warned that the
deployment would have “immediate consequences on our cooperation."
Lavrov said Borrel told him
not to “work in Africa at all, because Africa is our place.”
“That's exactly what he
said," Lavrov said on Saturday. "To say, 'I was there first, get
out,' it's insulting, first of all for the government in Bamako which invited
foreign partners.”
Mali has become increasingly
engulfed in violence since a Tuareg uprising in 2012 was hijacked by extremist
militants.
The French mission began
operating in Mali in 2013 to allegedly counter militants that Paris claims are
linked to the al-Qaeda and Daesh (ISIS) terrorist groups.
Some observers have, however, expressed suspicions about the actual goal sought by Paris inside the former colony, which boasts rich mineral reserves.