Mr Minister,

Colleagues, friends,

We are delighted to welcome you to Moscow for a meeting between the foreign ministers of the Confederation of the Alliance of Sahel States and the Russian Federation.

We maintain regular ties. The presidents of our countries met in 2023 on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit, and spoke over the phone in 2024. We have met at least twice a year, most recently in November 2024 at the inaugural Russia-Africa Forum conference in Sochi.

Members of our governments and deputy prime ministers responsible for energy and economic matters also meet regularly. Collaboration in defence is expanding, with our military actively working alongside their Malian colleagues. We train personnel for the Malian Armed Forces, as well as civilian specialists. This is an important humanitarian dimension of our work.

Our closest coordination is in foreign policy, particularly within the United Nations, the Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter and other international platforms, including various Russia-Africa partnership formats.

We have a packed agenda and I am confident that today’s discussions will help advance the agreements that will be reached by our leaders more actively and effectively.