The United States has warned the ruling junta in Burkina Faso against the risks of an alliance with Russia, whose paramilitary group Wagner has shown strong support for the perpetrators of the latest coup.
"The countries where the (Wagner) group has been deployed are left weakened and less secure, and we've seen that in several cases in Africa alone,"
a US State Department spokesman told reporters. Vedant Patel.
"We condemn any attempt to worsen the current situation in Burkina Faso, and we strongly encourage the new transitional government to adhere to the agreed timetable for a return to a democratically elected civilian government
," he added.
Support from the founder of the Wagner Group
Burkina Faso, a poor country in the Sahel, has been in turmoil since the previous junta leader, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba, who came to power in a January coup, was in turn deposited Friday evening by captain Ibrahim Traoré, 34 years old.
A few dozen demonstrators in the capital Ouagadougou on Tuesday chanted slogans favorable to Russia and critical of France, which is losing influence in West Africa.
Evguéni Prigojine, a discreet businessman close to the Kremlin and founder of the Wagner group, announced in a publication on social networks to support Captain Ibrahim Traoré and his men, who
“did what was necessary (.. .) for the good of their people”.
The ruling junta in neighboring Mali has also forged ties with Wagner's paramilitaries.
This group, whose presence has been documented for eight years in Ukraine, Syria, Libya, the Central African Republic, is perceived by its detractors as the shadow army of Vladimir Putin, and accused of numerous abuses by the UN. , Western states and NGOs.
