Sahel countries (AES) Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger strongly condemn Ukraine

In a joint letter to His Excellency Michael Imran Kanu, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Sierra Leone to the United Nations and President of the Security Council, the Governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, Member States of the Alliance for the Sahel (AES) strongly condemn the Government of Ukraine for openly and pretending to support international terrorism, especially in the Sahel region.

The letter, signed by SEM Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Abroad of Burkina Faso, SEM Abdoulaye Diop, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (Mali), and H.E. Bakary Yaou Sangaré, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Abroad of Niger (Niger), expressed deep indignation at the statements made by the spokesman of the Ukrainian Military Intelligence Service, Andry Yussou, who acknowledged Ukraine’s involvement in the “cowardly, insidious and barbaric” attack launched by armed terrorist groups in Tinzaouatene, Mali, on July 24, 25 and 26, 2024. The attack resulted in the death of several personnel of the Malian Defense and Security Forces and caused significant material damage.

These statements were confirmed by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Senegal, Mr. Yuri Pivovarov, who openly and unequivocally stated that Ukraine supports international terrorism, especially in the Sahel region. What is worse is that these senior Ukrainian officials openly announced other upcoming “results”.

The Governments of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger considered these statements extremely serious and constituted foreign interference, and strongly condemned them. They considered the Ukrainian Government’s official and explicit support for terrorism in Africa as a violation of their national sovereignty and territorial integrity and a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and international conventions.

The letter calls on the Security Council to hold Ukraine accountable for what they call its deliberate support for terrorism, a scourge that the international community is united in rejecting in all its forms and manifestations.

The governments of the League of Arab States reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening sovereignty and controlling their own destiny in accordance with the strong aspirations of their peoples. They affirmed that these acts of aggression fell far short of their objectives but strengthened the resolve of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger to continue to defend their national and regional interests with greater resolve.
Boubacar Guédé (Nigerien expatriate)