Moscow Hopes Burkina Faso Will Send Top Officials To Russia-Africa Summit - Diplomat

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published March 25, 2023 | 07:10 PM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th March, 2023) Moscow expects that Burkina Faso and Cote d'Ivoire will be represented by high-level delegations at the second Russia-Africa summit, Russian Ambassador to Ouagadougou and Yamoussoukro Alexey Saltykov told Sputnik on Saturday.

The first Russia-Africa summit was held in October 2019 in the Russian city of Sochi, and the second is scheduled for July 2023 in St. Petersburg. According to the ambassador, the Russian side has already sent invitations to the leadership of both countries.

"We are proceeding from the fact that this issue is on the agenda, but since all decisions are taken at a rather late stage in African realities � closer to the actual holding of events � I think it is too early to talk about the composition of the Ivorian and Burkinabe delegations, but we expect that they will be represented at the highest level," Saltykov said.

The current priority of Burkina Faso's interim president, Captain Ibrahim Traore, is to ensure security in connection with the two coups d'etat that took place in the country in 2022, the Russian diplomat added.

"The situation with terrorism in Burkina Faso is quite serious, and the central government is now doing its best to stabilize it so that it does not degenerate further. Since the beginning of November, several successful operations have been conducted to curb the spread of jihadist activity in the country. As the president himself said, the country needs him, he is personally in charge of the field operations," the Russian ambassador said.

Saltykov did not rule out the possibility that Traore might assign a government official to lead the delegation to the summit.

In September 2022, Lt. Col. Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, the then leader of Burkina Faso's interim government who came to power through a coup earlier in 2022, was ousted by a group of military officers led by Traore in what became the second military takeover in the country in eight months, local media reported.

Burkina Faso, located in the Sahel region of Africa, has been fighting groups of radical jihadists since 2015.