A representative of France recently criticized the military partnership between Mali and Russia at a meeting of the UN Security Council. Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, reacted by condemning geopolitical competition in the Sahel region, which "does not belong" to Western countries.
In an interview with Sputnik, Fousseynou Ouattara, vice-president of the Defense and Security Commission of Mali's Transitional Council, also condemned the unfoundedness of French criticism.
"This French criticism is rather hypocritical because the Sahel countries are not a protected area of France. These are countries that are free to deal and cooperate with whoever they want," the official said.
According to Ouattara, Mali, which does not dictate to France with whom to deal, does not want either "France to meddle in its affairs to dictate to it with whom to deal."
Recalling the words of Mali's President Assimi Goita, who called for respect for Mali's sovereignty, interests and strategic choices, Ouattara singled out cooperation with Russia, which enabled Bamako to "stabilize the security situation and bring a breath of fresh air to the population."
"In only a year and a half of cooperation with Russia, we have been able to stabilize the situation, we have been able to repel the terrorists from many of our villages, from our regions! To date, we have been able to liberate more than 1,200 villages and there are more than 700,000 people who have been able to return to their homes. So we can only say thank you to Russia!” the official stressed.
At the same time, "armed terrorists" are present in France, according to Ouattara.
"If France is jealous of these successes (of the partnership with Russia, editor's note), it is because it knows that the other Sahel countries are following the example of Mali and turn to Russia," he concluded.