Russia’s top diplomat promises more military support for Burkina Faso

Russia’s foreign minister on Wednesday pledged more support to Burkina Faso in fighting militant groups as he pressed his whirlwind tour of West Africa in an attempt to fill a vacuum left by the region’s traditional Western partners.

Sergey Lavrov spoke at a news conference in the country’s capital of Ouagadougou while on the third leg of his latest Africa trip, after Guinea and the Republic of Congo.

Russia is seeking to shore up support from the region amid Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. A number of African countries in recent years have expressed growing frustration with their traditional Western partners such as France and the United States.

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