The borders between countries in the Sahel zone are porous, facilitating the smuggling of Western weapons, originally supplied to Kiev, into Africa, and thus posing a threat to the stability of Burkina Faso, Alexey Saltykov, Russian Ambassador to Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, told Sputnik Africa.
"Of course it poses an added danger for Burkina Faso, which is facing a massive presence of jihadists who are very, very developed. And I think that's a real problem for Burkina Faso," he said.
According to the Russian diplomat, "the problem is very acute and very relevant for any country, because the use and distribution of Western weapons delivered to Ukraine are unregulated."
"These weapons can be in the hands of neo-fascist elements, terrorist elements, in the hands of drug dealers," he lamented.
Illicit Weapons in Africa
In November 2022, former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari drew attention to the need for better border protection in the Lake Chad Basin, denouncing the conflict in Ukraine as a source of arms proliferation in the region.
Speaking at the 16th Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Lake Chad Basin Commission in Abuja, he said that despite the successes achieved by the troops of the Multinational Joint Task Force and the various national operations underway in the region, terrorist threats still loomed large.
Arms Trafficking in Ukraine
Last summer, Europol expressed concern that some of the weapons destined for the Kiev regime were ending up on the black market and in the hands of criminals.
"The proliferation of firearms and explosives in Ukraine could lead to an increase in firearms and munitions trafficked into the EU via established smuggling routes or online platforms," the body said last July.
For several years, the West has been sparing no expense in supplying weapons to Kiev. Moscow has already sent a note to the United Nations warning of the danger these deliveries to Ukraine pose.