{"id":593,"date":"2024-08-07T23:24:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T23:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/?p=593"},"modified":"2024-08-07T23:24:02","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T23:24:02","slug":"nigers-military-rulers-severe-diplomatic-relations-with-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/fr\/nigers-military-rulers-severe-diplomatic-relations-with-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Niger\u2019s Military Rulers Severe Diplomatic Relations With Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Niger has severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine, a move that reflects growing disagreements between several West African states and Kyiv.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Niger’s military government said it took the decision as a sign of “solidarity” with neighboring Mali, which itself cut ties with Ukraine two days ago.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Both countries cited comments by a Ukrainian military official which pointed to Ukraine playing a role in the killing of dozens of Malian soldiers last month.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ukraine has tried to gain allies in Africa during its war against Russia, likely in an effort to counter Moscow’s growing influence on the continent.<\/span><\/p>\n

In late July, dozens of Malian soldiers, as well as mercenaries from the Russian Wagner group, were killed in clashes with separatist rebels and militants linked to Al-Qaeda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Mali’s military regime turned to the notorious Wagner group in 2021, seeking support to deal with its crippling insecurity problems.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After Wagner confirmed “losses” in the July attack, Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence, said the rebels had received “the necessary information they needed” to carry out the attacks. He gave no other details.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In response to Mr. Yusov, Mali accused Ukraine of violating its sovereignty and announced that it was cutting ties with Ukraine “with immediate effect”.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Niger followed on Tuesday, with government spokesman Amadou Abdramane describing Mr. Yusov\u2019s comment as “unacceptable”.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mali’s neighbor, Senegal, also scolded Ukraine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the weekend, Senegal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned Ukraine’s ambassador, Yurii Pyvovarov, accusing him of supporting the July attack in Mali in a now-deleted video posted on the country’s Facebook account.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has not yet commented on Niger’s decision to sever diplomatic relations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, it called Mali’s decision “short and hasty” and said Ukraine was “unconditionally” in compliance with international law and accused Russian-controlled groups of “numerous war crimes” in African countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Russia spoke out on the issue on Wednesday, accusing Ukraine of opening a “second front” in Africa.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0“The regime of [Ukrainian President] Zelensky is pandering to terrorist groups in countries on the continent friendly to Moscow,” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the RIA Novosti news agency.<\/span><\/p>\n

In recent years, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso have experienced coups and their new military governments have broken defense agreements with France and the United States, preferring military aid from Russia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Russia’s popularity on the continent grows, Ukraine has sought to strengthen its ties with African countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is making his fourth visit to Africa in two years. This time he will go to Malawi, Zambia and Mauritius.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the moment, it is not clear whether other West African countries will follow the example of Niger and Mali in cutting ties with Ukraine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Many are waiting to see the reaction of Burkina Faso, which formed a bloc with Niger and Mali earlier this year and is also ruled by the military.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

West Africa is not the only region affected by the war between Ukraine and Russia.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Sudan, Wagner is accused of supporting the\u00a0 Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary organization that has been fighting the Sudanese army for more than a year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Widely circulated videos show\u00a0 Ukrainian special forces carrying out drone strikes and other armed attacks against\u00a0 RSF and Wagner fighters in Sudan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The BBC was unable to verify these videos.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues in Africa, more than 70 mourners gathered in Moscow to honor the Wagner fighters killed in the July attack.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Red carnations were placed under photos of fallen warriors at a memorial on Sunday, Reuters news agency reported, while some attendees lit candles.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: BBC News<\/b><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Niger has severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine, a move that reflects growing disagreements between several West African states and Kyiv.\u00a0 Niger’s military government said it took the decision as a…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":123,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1889,287,288],"class_list":["post-593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-africa","tag-niger-military-junta","tag-russia","tag-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swifteradio.com\/update\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}