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Photo: Kay Nietfeld / dpa
The federal government wants information from the transitional government in Mali about the apparent presence of Russian uniformed forces near the base of the UN mission Minusma in Gao.
Because this is a development "that is changing the mission environment," said a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office.
Because of the observation made by soldiers, one is in contact with the Malian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the United Nations.
On Tuesday – one day after the French withdrawal from the camp in Gao – German and British soldiers observed the arrival of obviously Russian forces at the airport in the Malian city.
Around eleven o'clock "20 to 30 people in military uniforms" were sighted.
They could not have been assigned to the Malian armed forces.
According to the letter, they were "almost certainly" members of the Russian security forces.
It remained unclear on Wednesday whether a rotation of German soldiers deployed in Mali planned by the Bundeswehr for Thursday would get the green light from the military rulers in the West African country.
The Federal Foreign Office said on Tuesday that 16 troop-contributing nations had handed over a letter to the United Nations in New York demanding that the UN "now do even more to ensure that working conditions in Mali are now normalized again as quickly as possible".
"This is our top priority," said the spokesman.
The Federal Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defense are "working together at full speed to ensure that these flights can be carried out for our soldiers".
On Monday, France withdrew the last soldiers of its anti-terrorist operation "Barkhane" from Mali and thus also left the camp in Gao.
Mali, with around 20 million inhabitants, has experienced three military coups since 2012 and is considered to be extremely unstable politically.
Since the most recent coup in May 2021, the country has been run by an interim military government, which has been criticized by Western states for its close ties with Russia.
as/dpa