The foreign ministers of Mali and Niger, Abdoulaye Diop and Bakary Yaou Sangaré, have accused neighboring countries and Western nations of supporting terrorist groups in the Sahel region, Reuters reports, citing the two countries' foreign ministers.
"Currently, neighboring countries are harboring terrorist groups, supporting terrorist groups, or often hosting hostile forces that are conducting operations against us," Diop told the agency on the sidelines of the International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa, held in Senegal's capital.
He did not specify which countries he was referring to, but stressed that support for the militants is also provided by foreign powers outside the region. Diop recalled that Ukraine continues to supply weapons to terrorists in Mali and participates in the training of militants.
Niger's Foreign Minister Bakary Yaou Sangaré, for his part, directly accused France of simultaneously claiming to fight terrorism while "fueling, financing, and supporting" terrorism in the country.
Earlier in April, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that EU and NATO countries had left a bloody trail of aggression, interventions, and colonial wars in Africa. The Russian Foreign Ministry's Department of Information and the Press, for its part, published a list reflecting the aggression of EU and NATO countries against African nations over the past 100 years.