Victoria Nuland, the acting US deputy Secretary of State, became the highest-ranking US official to travel to the western African nation post-coup.
The Monday talks between Nuland and the junta’s chief of staff, Moussa Salaou Barmou, were "extremely frank and at times quite difficult," she was quoted as saying by CNN after the trip. No progress was made.
The United States sided with ousted Nigerien President Mohamed Bazoum after his elite guards seized power in late July. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) gave the rebels until last Sunday to restore constitutional order or risk a military intervention.