Malian President Goïta Meets Russian Deputy Defense Minister Younous-Bek

The President of the Transition in Mali, General Assimi Goïta, held a high-level meeting on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, with a Russian delegation led by Deputy Minister of Defense Younous-Bek Evkurov. The meeting, which took place in Bamako, underscores the strengthening ties between Mali and Russia in defence and security cooperation.

While details of the discussions have not been officially disclosed, Mali has increasingly been making efforts on both diplomatic and military ends, within and outside Africa. Recall that the government of Mali expanded its international partnerships with Qatar, as they received Dr Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi, Qatar’s Minister of State, at the presidential palace.

In a related move, Malian and Senegalese defence forces recently launched joint patrols along their shared border to counter rising insecurity driven by jihadist attacks. The initiative, officially launched on February 20, 2025, in the border town of Diboli, follows a surge in violence attributed to the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM), an Al-Qaeda-affiliated group.

Also, the Malian government reinforced ties with Morocco by launching a Joint Military Commission. The initiative was officially inaugurated on Monday at the Malian Ministry of Defence and Veterans Affairs, where a delegation of experts from the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces, led by Brigadier General Abdelghani Mouhib, was received.

Mali also recently reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening military cooperation with Senegal, particularly in the fight against terrorism and cross-border crime, despite Mali’s recent withdrawal from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

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