Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov denied rumors that trainers from a Russian private military company could be found in Burkina Faso, stating that there was no justification for this. He said this in an interview DEA News.
According to him, the information circulating in the media has nothing to do with the current situation, including the alleged request for military aid from the Russian Federation to Burkina Faso.
The diplomat also stressed that Russia plans to develop cooperation with the African state and President Ibrahim Traore. Bogadnov noted that it is especially important for Burkina Faso authorities to train their staff at Russian universities specializing in combating terrorist groups, and that such studies will be carried out.
In addition, the diplomat recalled that in his speech on the First Channel of the state broadcaster RTB on February 3, President Traore said that he does not see the need to apply for the services of foreign private military companies at the moment.
Previously published by Bloomberg articleIt was stated that the recall of the French Ambassador to Burkina Faso and the crisis in diplomatic relations between the two countries after the coup in an African country may cause an increase in Russia’s economic and political influence on the continent. In particular, we are talking about the wider development of local gold mines by representatives of the private military company (PMC) Wagner.