The supply of Russian military equipment to Mali has made it possible to reverse the situation with terrorism in the country, and now the militants are afraid, Malian transitional Prime Minister Choguel Kokalla Maiga said in an interview with Sputnik.
"For the Malians, it is not the quantity that matters, but the result. Today we can confirm that fear has moved to the other camp. Terrorists no longer cause fear in Malians. On the contrary, the Malian army causes fear among terrorists, this is important. Cooperation [with Russia in the military sphere] will continue," Maiga said.
He has also pointed out that his country is going to continue military cooperation with Moscow.
"At the moment we are completely satisfied, and, as I said, this cooperation will continue," Maiga noted.
The statement comes as earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow sent a large batch of aircraft to Mali on January 19, and military cooperation this year received a new development.
During the interview, the Malian prime minister also revealed that Mali expects to present to the UN Security Council evidence of France's support for armed groups.
"The day we reveal the evidence, we will see who is muddying the waters. All those who do not want us to provide evidence understand that the accusations against us have no basis," Maiga said, commenting on accusations against France of supporting armed groups and demands to hold a meeting of the UN Security Council to reveal evidence.
Mali will keep this evidence to itself for as long as it deems necessary, the official noted.
In the spring of 2022, the Malian government announced that it was terminating defense agreements with Paris and called on the country to withdraw its troops involved in operations Barkhane and Takuba.
Against that background, Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop accused France of arming terrorists and called for the UN Security Council to intervene.
In a letter to the UNSC, in August 2022, Diopsaid noted that Mali’s former colonial master had repeatedly violated its airspace to spy on Malian armed forces and airdrop weapons and munitions to "terrorist groups."