AA/Ouagadougou/Dramane Traoré
Burkina Faso’s Transitional Prime Minister, Apollinaire Joachimson Kyelem de Tambela, said his country, which has recently been committed to diversifying its partnerships, wants to have Russia as an “ally” in the fight against terrorism.
“We want Russia to be an ally in the fight against terrorism, like all our partners. We know that Russia is a great power and if Russia wants, it can really help us in this area,” the leader said. of the Burkinabè government during an interview granted to the Russian television channel RT, the video of which is widely shared this Wednesday in the local press and Burkinabè social media.
Apollinaire Joachimson Kyelem de Tambela maintained that the priority of priorities in Burkina Faso is the security domain and that this was discussed with the Russian authorities during his stay in Moscow.
“We discussed the issue. But beyond the security area, we discussed other areas, because the issue of security is situational and we hope that in some time, we will solve this problem. But in- Beyond that, our relations must continue because we all have an interest in winning,” he said.
“We would like relations to strengthen further. Because Russia is a great nation,” he repeated.
“We would like Russia to take back its rightful place as a great nation in my country because there is a history and an experience of Russia and we would like it to share that with us,” the Prime Minister said. Burkinabè minister, rejoicing at the “openness” of the Russian personalities he met during his stay.
“The Russian authorities are open and what we would like is to strengthen cooperative relations in all possible fields between Russia and Burkina Faso,” he said, adding, “We want to have more products Russians at home to diversify our partnership and not be linked only to Westerners”.
The Burkinabè head of government has promised that Burkina Faso will participate in the Russia-Africa forum scheduled for 2023.
– Diplomatic quarrel between Burkina Faso and Ghana
Faced with a security crisis fueled by terrorist attacks since 2015, in addition to internal actions to regain territory, Burkina Faso is also committed to diversifying its partnerships in the military field in order to intensify the fight against terrorism. A choice motivated, in particular, by the growing rejection of the populations of the French presence in all its forms.
It is in this context that the Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo affirmed, last Tuesday in Washington where he participated in the United States-Africa summit, that Burkina Faso has called on the services of the Russian private military company, Wagner, to fight against “terrorist” groups in return for operating a gold mine in the south of the country.
Ouagadougou had quickly reacted to this outing of the Ghanaian President by summoning the Ghanaian ambassador to Burkina Faso, Boniface Gambila Adagbila, to an “urgent hearing” on Friday, and by recalling the same day his ambassador to Accra, General Pingrenoma Zagré to ” consultation”.
The Ambassador of Ghana said on Friday that this statement by its president was not intended to condemn Burkina Faso, nor to sow doubt in people’s minds, but the intention was above all to draw the attention of partners in order to create a great interest in Burkina Faso, according to the Burkina Faso Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Burkina Faso wants Russia “to be an ally in the fight against terrorism”