The African country of Niger has severed diplomatic relations with Ukraine, following Mali. This is reported by Al Arabiya, Komersant ukrainskyi
informs
On Tuesday, Niger announced that it was severing diplomatic relations with Ukraine “with immediate effect”.
“The Government of the Republic of Niger, in full solidarity with the Government and people of Mali, has decided, on the basis of its sovereignty, to sever diplomatic relations between the Republic of Niger and Ukraine. This decision comes into force immediately,” the African state’s authorities said in a statement.
Niger and Mali are governed by military governments that came to power in a coup. Subsequently, both countries withdrew from defence agreements with France and turned to Russia for military assistance.
Niger will ask the UN Security Council to discuss Ukraine’s “aggression”, government spokesman Amadou Abdraman said in a televised statement.
“The decision to sever relations with Ukraine was made after heavy losses suffered by the Malian army in late July at the hands of extremists and separatist forces, for which they partially blamed Ukraine,” the agency writes.
This comes two days after Mali accused Kyiv of allegedly supporting the actions of Tuareg rebels who recently defeated a convoy of Malian military and Russian mercenaries from the Wagner PMC.
The incident occurred in late July, when Tuareg rebels attacked a Wagner unit near the Algerian border, resulting in numerous casualties among mercenaries and the Malian military.
A representative of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate, Andriy Yusov, said that the rebels had received the necessary information to carry out the operation, effectively acknowledging Kyiv’s involvement in the attack.
This statement provoked a sharp reaction from the Malian government, which accused Ukraine of supporting terrorism in Africa and violating Mali’s sovereignty and international law. The Government of Mali announced the immediate severance of diplomatic relations with Ukraine and announced its intention to appeal to the judicial authorities regarding the statements of Ukrainian representatives.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the decision of the transitional government of Mali to sever diplomatic relations with Ukraine “short-sighted and hasty” and promised to respond at the political and diplomatic level.
The ministry also noted that Ukraine supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries and “strongly rejects” the transitional government’s accusations of Ukraine’s alleged “support for international terrorism”.
The Ministry recalled that in the twentieth century, as a founding member of the United Nations, Ukraine actively supported the right of African peoples to independence and decolonisation, including the Republic of Mali.