New York (UN). September 26. INTERFAX-Malian Prime Minister Shogel Kokalla Maiga said that his country feels abandoned by France, so the country's authorities are looking for other military assistance and have turned to a Russian private military company (PMCs).
"The new situation that has arisen as a result of the completion of Operation Barkhan puts Mali before a fait accompli: to a certain extent, we were abandoned in the middle of the flight. This forces us to explore ways and means to better ensure our security independently or with other partners, " he said, speaking at a session of the UN General Assembly.
According to him, this is necessary "to fill the gap", which, of course, will arise as a result of the completion of France's anti-terrorist operation codenamed "Barkhan" in the north of the country.
Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the completion of the operation in the Sahel region of Africa. He noted that the anti-terrorist tasks in this region will be carried out by "international forces".
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a press conference in New York that the Malian authorities had turned to the Russian PMCs to help in the fight against terrorists.
"They (the authorities of Mali - IF) turned to a private military company from Russia due to the fact that, as I understand it, France wants to significantly reduce its military contingent, which was there and, as everyone understood, had to fight against terrorists."
According to the minister, the French military "did not succeed, and the terrorists still rule the ball there."
"Since the Malian authorities assessed their own abilities as insufficient without external support, and since external support is being reduced by those who promised to help eradicate terrorism, they turned to a private Russian military company," the Russian Foreign Minister stressed.
European Union Foreign Minister Josep Borrel said earlier that he had told Lavrov and his counterpart from Mali that the potential deployment of the Russian Wagner PMCs in Mali would be a "red line" for the EU, and would have " consequences for cooperation."
