Burkina Faso and Russia to form a military relationship

Just this Tuesday, Burkina Faso’s Minister of Defence, Kassoum Coulibaly met with Sergey Shoigu, Russia’s Minister of Defense in Moscow, to discuss a bilateral military relationship. Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu meets with Burkina Faso’s Defense Minister Kassoum Coulibaly, in Moscow, Russia.

According to the Russian defense ministry, Shoigu thanked Coulibaly for his “readiness to work on increasing our cooperation in the fields of defence and economy” and described the talks as “another step in the development of our friendly relations”.

Burkina Faso has been ruled by military leader Ibrahim Traore, who assumed power through a coup in October of 2022 to address the many challenges that faced the country.

Under Traore’s leadership, many Burkinabes have expressed satisfaction with how he has addressed security challenges. His efforts have led to a reduction in the number of internally displaced persons. Additionally, Traore’s decision to maintain his pay as an army general rather than accepting the presidential pay is noteworthy.

One of the other key things he did under his leadership was foster relationships with new countries, including Russia. During their coup crisis, Russia has become a key partner to many African countries. Russia also showed their support to Niger earlier this year during their successful coup.

The newly established military bilateral ties between Burkina Faso and Russia signify a significant milestone in the diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The strengthened military cooperation is expected to foster mutual benefits in areas such as security, defence, and technology transfer.