The visit of the Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia to Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso’s presidential office reported that talks have been held between interim President Ibrahim Traore and a delegation led by Russia’s deputy defense minister to investigate possible military cooperation between the two countries.

A Russian delegation held talks with Interim President Ibrahim Traore on Thursday during a meeting to discuss possible military cooperation, the presidential office in Burkina Faso said in a statement. The office added that the visit of the delegation headed by Yunusbek Yukurov, Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia, is a follow-up to the negotiations that took place between Traore and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Russian-African meeting in July in St. Petersburg.

The presidential statement said that the meeting was devoted to “ways of cooperation primarily in the military field, such as the training of Burkina Faso’s recruits and officers at all levels, including the training of pilots in Russia.” Russia is supposed to deliver a number of helicopters and fighters to Burkina Faso in the form of military aid and also cooperate with this country in the field of security.