Moscow-Sana
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov affirmed his country's intention to continue supporting the Group of Five Sahel countries in its military efforts against terrorist organizations active in this region.
TASS news agency quoted Lavrov as saying, following talks he held in Moscow today with Chadian Foreign Minister Mohamed Zein Sharif, that he briefed the Chadian side on the steps Russia is taking to support the "Five-Sahel" special forces, which include Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Mauritania by providing them with appropriate weapons and equipment. The preparation of cadres, including the preparation of military personnel for peacekeeping forces.
Lavrov stressed his country's commitment to supporting the countries of the African continent "to help them get rid of terrorism and other threats and challenges, including drug smuggling and other forms of organized crime."
It is noteworthy that the Group of Five Sahel African states was established in 2014 with the aim of coordinating efforts to combat terrorism in this region.
On the other hand, Lavrov confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will announce during his call with US President Joe Biden the need to compel the Kiev authorities to comply with the Minsk agreements.
"Today we will have an important event, which is a video phone call between Presidents Putin and Biden, in which we will certainly very clearly announce our approach to the Ukrainian settlement and the need to force the Kiev regime to fulfill its obligations within the framework of the Minsk package of measures," Lavrov added, stressing that a peaceful settlement in Donbass is possible only from During the direct dialogue between Kiev and the unilaterally declared republics of Lugansk and Donetsk.
The Russian presidency had recently announced that Presidents Putin and Biden intend to hold a video call on the 7th of this month, after the recent escalation of tension between the two sides following Washington and its allies' accusations against Moscow regarding Ukraine.