The United States cannot compete with the proposals that Russia puts forward to the African nations, former US Special Envoy for the Sahel region J. Peter Pham told Western media.
"It is sort of like the doctor that diagnoses you with the disease but then refuses to write the prescription. [...] If we are not willing to write the script or give the drug, then we can’t really complain about the patient who goes to someone else who does dispense a remedy, however noxious," Pham was quoted by the media as saying.
Explaining the decline of the US influence in the region, Pham recalled that after the military coup in Mali in 2020, the US froze security assistance to the country and in 2021, it blocked the sale of a transponder intended for an unarmed transport plane requested by the Malian government. He went on to argue that these Washington's decisions prompted Mali to look at aircraft suggested by Russia, the outlet said.
Burkina Faso is another West African country that is strengthening its partnership with Russia.
Pham noted regarding the issue that the US aid to Burkina Faso to fight terrorism was put on hold after the Niger coup in July 2023. Last month, in an interview with a Cameroonian journalist Alain Foka, Burkinabe leader Ibrahim Traore criticized countries that claim to be friends but refuse to sell weapons, underscoring Russia's willingness to provide whatever is needed.
In August 2023, Russia's Deputy Defense Minister, Yunus-Bek Evkourov, met alternately with the Burkinabe President Ibrahim Traore and the Malian leader Assimi Goita. With each leader, Evkurov discussed reinforcing the defense and military cooperation, as well as the security situation in the Sahel region.
Mali and Burkina Faso both face jihadist violence and are ruled by military governments who took power in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Both governments focused on combating the terrorist threat and have, among other things achieved the withdrawal of French armed contingents from their soil, deemed them ineffective in the fight against radical militants.
Some Nigeriens also expressed uncertainty about the advantages of the American military presence, noting that the Russian assistance to Mali in reclaiming territory from rebels is more evident, according to Pham.
A Nigerien analyst and former inspector general of state, Issoufou Boubacar Kado Magagi, told Sputnik Africa in December that existing foreign military bases in Niger did not have trained military personnel and maintained insecurity in the country to exploit resources.
On December 4, an agreement on strengthening cooperation in the field of defense was signed by Niger and Russia.