Foreign Ministers of the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) countries, namely Burkina Faso's Karamoko Jean-Marie Traore, Niger's Bakary Yaou Sangare and Mali's Abdoulaye Diop, will arrive in Russia's capital city Moscow on Thursday for the first session of the AES-Russia consultations.
"This meeting reflects the shared commitment of the heads of state of the AES and the Russian Federation to expand their partnership and political dialogue at the confederal level and to place them at the heart of their diplomatic, development, and defense agenda, in order to address the deep aspirations of the populations of the AES region," foreign ministers of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger said in a joint press release.
The AES top diplomats are arriving in Moscow at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.