Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s high-level meetings with the Alliance of Sahel States reflect a strategic effort by the region’s military governments to secure alternative global backing amid ongoing friction with the African Union (AU), according to international relations specialist Professor José Francisco Pavia.
The talks in Niger, which follow Lavrov’s diplomatic stop in Ethiopia, bring together the Foreign Ministers of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger. The gathering takes place at a critical geopolitical juncture, as all three military-led nations remain suspended from the AU following recent coups and have formally withdrawn from the West African regional bloc, Economic Community of West African States.
Pavia points out that the timing and nature of the meeting underscore a structural shift in regional diplomacy. By deepening defense and energy co-operation with Moscow, the Sahel coalition is effectively building a parallel security network that allows them to bypass traditional continental oversight and resist external political pressure to return to civilian rule.
–ChannelAfrica–
