On the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly, Lieutenant Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, President of the Transition in Burkina Faso, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday at the United Nations headquarters. The two personalities exchanged on the strengthening of a cooperation, “mutually beneficial” to both countries, says a statement from the Presidency of Burkina Faso.
According to the text, the cooperation between Russia and Burkina Faso is more than 50 years old and today, the two countries intend to consolidate it in view of the current challenges. “Currently, there was the desire to further strengthen this cooperation and bring it to a level that will be mutually beneficial to both countries,” the statement said.
This reconciliation between the two countries is also a desire of the Burkinabe civil society. Indeed, relations between the former colonizing country and Burkina Faso, as well as with most other colonies, have been gradually deteriorating in recent years. Civil society in Burkina Faso has even requested the end of defense agreements with France, in order to turn to other partners.
Plagued by numerous terrorist attacks since 2015, Burkina Faso wants to vary its partnership arrangements to provide a consistent response.
In addition, Mali’s withdrawal from the G5 Sahel could increase the threat, and would constitute a deterioration of the security situation in the Sahel. Several armed groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group claim responsibility for these attacks, which have already killed thousands and displaced some two million people.
