Apollinaire Joachim Kyelem de Tambela, prime minister of Burkina Faso, visited Moscow on Oct. 8 and met with Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov.
“We very [much] appreciate the friendly nature of our relations, the established forms of cooperation between us,” the statement quoted Belousov as saying.
Russia–Burkina Faso relations, Belousov said, are “based on the principles of mutual respect ... and have gained positive dynamics in recent years.”
The Russian defense chief described his meeting with the Burkinabe prime minister as “another step” in the development of their “friendly ties.”
De Tambela voiced his pleasure “with the relations that are being built” between the countries, according to the ministry’s statement.
While in Moscow, he also expressed his country’s interest in joining the BRICS group of nations, a 10-nation economic bloc led by Russia and China.
BRICS was founded in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India, and China to offset perceived Western economic dominance. In 2011, South Africa joined the organization.
Earlier this year, five other countries—Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia, and the United Arab Emirates—joined BRICS, and several others have recently voiced an interest in joining.
Later this month, Russia is slated to host a landmark BRICS summit, to which Burkina Faso would be “pleased to get an invitation,” according to De Tambela.
The upcoming summit will be held from Oct. 22 to Oct. 24 in the Russian city of Kazan.
Moscow Eyes Region
Russia–Burkina Faso ties have deepened considerably since 2022, when the African country’s then-leader, Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, was ousted in a military coup.A small, landlocked West African country, Burkina Faso is currently led by Ibrahim Traoré, a 34-year-old Burkinabe army officer.
In June, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Ouagadougou, the Burkinabe capital, where he held talks with the country’s ruling military junta.
During the visit, he unveiled plans to provide Burkina Faso with military equipment—and Russian instructors—to help it improve its defense capabilities.
“From the very first contacts between our countries after President Traoré came to power, we have been very closely engaged in all areas of cooperation,” Lavrov said at the time.
Bilateral cooperation, he said, also included the “development of military and military-technical ties.”
Since 2020, three West African states—Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger—have seen their pro-Western leaders ousted in military coups.
Following the series of coups, they have had increasingly contentious relationships with the West—especially France and the United States—and have moved to expel Western troops from their territory.
Previously, French and U.S. troops were deployed in Africa’s Sahel region to fight insurgents said to be linked to al-Qaeda and ISIS.
But in early 2023, roughly 400 French soldiers had to leave Burkina Faso after the country’s ruling junta gave them a one-month deadline to do so.
Niger followed suit late last year, expelling a 1,500-strong French military contingent from its territory.
Three months later, Niger revoked a military pact with the United States, which, like France, had maintained a substantial number of troops in the country.
In April, 650 U.S. troops vacated their base in Niamey, Niger’s capital, and left a command center—used to operate drones—near the northern city of Agadez.
