Russia Strengthening Military Ties With Sahel States -By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh

After frantic preparations for months, defense ministers from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger ( Alliance of Sahel States – AES) and Russia held its first AES-Russia Defense Summit. It was one the most significant meetings, marking the first time for the leaders to come together face-to-face for a quadro-lateral format, designed to address apparently serious security questions, including military supplies and training, terrorism and frequent militant attacks, and also related economic development in the Sahel region.

The AES Defense Ministers and their accompanying delegations got a pleasant reception from Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov. After exchanging warm pleasantries, the leaders briskly settled down for deliberations in medium-size hall in the Ministry’s building. Andrei Belousov emphasized that the four-party dialogue would become an important format for discussing issues of strengthening cooperation in the defense sphere.

An official statement by the Russian Defense Ministry quoted Belousov as saying that the past month marked a year since the establishment of the AES, comprising Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. “The decision to create an alliance is the result of the free choice of the Sahel peoples, a course towards sustainable peaceful development,” according to the official statement.

The statement posted to its website noted Russian Defense Ministry’s readiness “to provide comprehensive assistance to ensure stability in the region,” and further underlined that Moscow supports the AES’s position on the “need to strengthen security, protect territories and sovereignty.”

Malian Defense Minister Sadio Camara, who delivered a speech during the meeting on behalf of Belousov’s AES counterparts, noted that the initiative to organize their inaugural meeting was a common desire to strengthen the strategic partnership between their countries and Russia. “Currently, cooperation in the field of defense is the largest area of cooperation between our countries,” said Camara.

The parties signed a joint statement on the results of the consultations following the talks as well as memorandums of understanding between the Russian and AES defense ministries. The AES was created as a mutual defense pact in September 2023 that was formalized into a confederation on July 6, 2024, signing a treaty to deepen the defense pact and expand cooperation in defense, economic and social sectors. The shift comes as military-led governments in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger distance themselves from Western alliances, emphasizing the increasing influence of Russia in the region’s military strategies.

Prioritising Political Dialogue
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also held a similar meeting in early April 2025 with three Foreign Ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger (Alliance des États du Sahel (translates in English as the Alliance of Sahel States) within the context of growing impatience over the fragile security situation in the Sahel region and collective anxiety in participating and investing in the economic sectors and to raise development levels in the Sahel region.

By inviting these foreign ministers for “political consultation” and strengthen “political dialogue” at Smolenskiy Ploshad in central Moscow, Lavrov undoubtedly gave a strong boost to the AES relations, marking the latest new chapter in building sustainable security ties and economic cooperation. According to Russia’s MFA, the three African countries’ foreign ministries later indicated in a joint statement that the joint visit described as the first session of “AES-Russia consultations” which aimed at finding appropriate pathways in fighting jihadist insurgencies that has spread across the region south of the Sahara.

Within the framework of military-technical cooperation, Russia has signed agreements approximately 15 African countries, to supply military weapons and equipment in a barter system, in exchange for natural resources. In a statement posted to official website, Russia’s MFA has assured the three Foreign Ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger: “we will continue supporting it with the supply of arms and hardware and personnel training, including peacekeepers, as it is very important to help put an end to this evil and other challenges and threats, including drug trafficking and other forms of organized crime.”

“The Moscow meeting represents an important step in establishing strategic, pragmatic, dynamic and supportive cooperation and partnership relations in areas of common interest between the AES and Russia,” the ministries said.

Basic research and review show that besides instability, these countries are engulfed with various socio-economic problems primarily due to the system of governance and poor policies in pursuit of sustainable development. As a follow up, Moscow promised some military assistance in exchange for complete assess to tapping (exploiting) natural resources in these French-Speaking African countries. The meetings further agreed on promoting multifaceted partnerships relating to trade and the economy in the region.

Without doubts, the trend which spreads across the continent is to fight western political and economic dominance. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger and other Francophones have expelled France, and currently struggling to consolidate their relationships with Russia. Endowed with natural resources and with the availability of human capital (the youthful population), these Francophones are desirous to attain and sustain their economic sovereignty, indicating their legitimacy in the future multipolar world order.

The Francophones have, in practical terms, striken deals with Russia. As expected, the bilateral relations are expanding, economic alliances are formed through several signed agreements and cooperation between the two sides for possible investments by corporate Russian entreprises across multiple economic sectors in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Since its Soviet’s collapse, Russia has taken over the fight against growing neo-colonialism in Africa. As craftily designed in its policy, Russia plans to dominate the economy of Africa. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has made resonating comments during the past years, blaming both the West and Europe for economic exploitation of former African colonies. Lavrov has pledged Kremlin’s total support to several African countries in their fight against terrorism and extremism.

Consistently expressing utter dissatisfaction of European and Western-dominated economic institutions, Lavrov listed several Russian companies, among them are Rosatom, PhosAgro, RusAl, Rosneft, UAZ, GAZ, Kamaz, Inter Rao – Export, VTB and Gazprombank with adequate funds, and interested unwaveringly in investing economic sectors across Africa.

The dialogue, at least, offers the unique hope for consolidating the existing bilateral relations, and create multifaceted conditions for new perspectives in the Sahel region. But the Russia-AES defense meeting ended without any indicating or highlighting any concrete achievements since the formation of AES and its collective (trio) forging defense relations with Russia, and further assessing the economic impact and level of investment from the Russian Federation.

In the final conclusion, it’s really unclear and difficult to predict 100% what comes up next from Russia to Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, and of course, the entire Sahel region in West Africa. Notwithstanding the internal obstacles, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are expected to continue to advance their collective interests for the purposes of their development, prosperity and stability. (With additional inputs from news agencies)
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