Burkina Faso’s prime minister, Apollinaire Kyelem de Tambela, has cited dissatisfaction with previous partnerships with Western nations, including France, as justification for his country’s decision to strengthen ties with Russia.
The official made the comments at the opening of the Economic Days of Burkina Faso forum in Moscow on Tuesday. The four-day conference aims to strengthen economic ties between the West African nation and Russia.
“Our history of engagement with the French and with the West in general has not brought us satisfaction. So we decided to try a different path. We said to ourselves that if there is now a partner we want to reach out to, it is Russia,” he told reporters.
On the sidelines of the event, Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov and the Burkinabe prime minister discussed expanding bilateral security cooperation. The West African nation has been a victim of militant violence since 2015, which has killed thousands of civilians and military personnel.
“Russian-Burkina relations are based on the principles of mutual respect, consideration of each other’s interests, and have acquired positive dynamics in recent years,” Belousov said, according to a Russian Defense Ministry press release.
He hailed the talks as “another step in the development of... friendly ties” between Moscow and Ouagadougou, while the Burkinabe prime minister also expressed his “sincere” satisfaction with “the relations that are being built.”
Russia’s relations with several African countries, including Burkina Faso and its neighbors Mali and Niger, have strengthened in recent years. This has raised concern among Western nations such as the US and France, who have suffered military setbacks in the Sahel region. Last year, Burkinabe transitional President Ibrahim Traore referred to Moscow as a “strategic ally” during an interview about Ouagadougou’s “new forms of cooperation” following the expulsion of French troops.
The military governments of Ouagadougou, Bamako, and Niamey formed the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) in September last year and have since sought a defense partnership with Russia to combat a lethal jihadist insurgency that has plagued their region for more than a decade. The former French colonies have also signed bilateral agreements with Moscow in a variety of areas, with Rosatom slated to construct solar power plants in Burkina Faso and Mali.
“When we turned to Russia, we were told that Russia could offer nothing but weapons. Nothing more. We decided to see for ourselves,” Burkinabe Prime Minister Tambela said, according to a report published on Tuesday by the Business Insider Africa news agency.