Russia has hailed the conclusion of an agreement on the restoration of constitutional order in Mali, where a military junta has seized power, and calls for its implementation as soon as possible, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
Last week, the Mali junta and the 15-state Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) agreed to a timetable for a return to constitutional rule and elections following the March 22 overthrow of President Amadou Toumani Toure, a power grab that sparked international condemnation.
Under the agreement, parliamentary speaker Dioncounda Traore will be the new interim president, ruling with a transitional government until elections are held.
“Moscow hails the framework agreement on the settlement of the institutional crisis in Mali, which took place between the representatives of the military junta and Burkina Faso Foreign Minister Djibril Bassole, who is the chief mediator of the West African bloc ECOWAS…We call on all parties to proceed without delay to finalize the framework agreement and implement the provisions enshrined in it,” the ministry’s website said in a statement.
“We establish with pleasure, that the achievement of these agreements has allowed ECOWAS to lift the sanctions which were earlier imposed on Mali,” the statement added.