Prime Minister Mali Shogel Kokalla Maiga. Photo: Wikipedia.org.
Prime Minister Mali Kokalla Maiga explained from the tribunal of the UN General Assembly the reason for inviting fighters from the Russian PMC Wagner to the country.
According to the Mali24.info portal, Maiga noted that France has decided to end the counter-terrorism operation Barkhan in Mali. And after the withdrawal of French troops, Mali faced the need to “fill the void.” Therefore, the country was in fact “presented”. We had to look for ways and means to ensure safety.
Recall that the day before, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted at a UN briefing that Mali's transitional authorities were fighting terrorism and turned to a private military company from Russia in connection with the fact that France wanted to significantly reduce its military a contingent that was there to fight terrorists. According to Lavrov, the terrorists settled in the north of Mali and “are still holding a show”