Russian diplomacy has been making itself felt in Burkina Faso since the last quarter of 2022. It all began when Captain Ibrahim Traoré came to power at the end of September 2022. For the first time, Russian flags were flown on the main thoroughfares of Burkina Faso’s capital. Demonstrators increasingly called for cooperation with the largest country on the old continent. Yet, the two countries have always maintained diplomatic relations. Surely underrated!
Indeed, relations between Burkina Faso and the Russian Federation date back to 1967, when the West African country first established relations with what was then known as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Even then, Russia contributed to the training of many Burkinabe executives.
However, the 1990s and early 2000s saw a slowdown, marked by the closure of the Russian Embassy in Burkina Faso in 1992 and the Burkina Faso Embassy in Moscow in 1996.
On December 28, 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabè Abroad, Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré, and the non-resident Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Burkina Faso, Alexey Saltykov, reopened the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Burkina Faso—an official return after some thirty years.
The official reopening was welcomed by the Burkina Faso minister, who declared that it was a sign of the “friendly nature of inter-state relations” between the two countries.
The official re-launch of diplomacy will enable the two countries to intensify their cooperation. Engaged in the fight against terrorism since 2016, Burkina Faso will have to rely heavily on its Russian partner to achieve victory over the terrorist hydra. Present at the reopening ceremony, Alexey Saltykov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation, non-resident in Burkina Faso, was quick to point this out. “We are closely following developments in your country, mainly in terms of resolving the problems of territorial integrity and the security of the population. I express the hope that the Burkinabe people will succeed in resolving all the problems facing the country, and Russia is ready to provide possible assistance to Burkina Faso and to build equal and mutually beneficial relations in the long term”, he mentioned.
Before the reopening of the Russian embassy in Burkina Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré sent several military personnel, including officers, to Vladimir Putin’s country for further training. There are also Burkinabe military students on scholarship in Russian schools. In Ouagadougou, the intelligence services have strengthened their capacities thanks to Russian-Burkinabe cooperation. According to some sources, this technology has already foiled several attempts to destabilise the government.
The rapprochement between these two countries presents many challenges and prospects on the horizon. Diplomatic deterioration with France, Burkina Faso’s long-standing partner, places Russia in a good position to do better than France. In addition to security, the country of men of integrity has expressed other intentions. These include the construction of a nuclear power plant to ensure energy autonomy and exports in the sub-region. Russia has promised to build the plant for this landlocked West African country. A solution that will give even more weight to the new partner so coveted by certain African countries, who believe in the sincerity of its partnership.
In Burkina Faso, arms are wide open for this bilateral cooperation. “We welcome all forms of cooperation with Russia. There are many opportunities for collaboration, but it’s important to resolve travel problems quickly. We have a lot of things to do together, the main thing is to get started, “declared Prime Minister Dr Apollinaire Joachimson Kyélèm de Tambèla, during an audience with a delegation of officials from Moscow’s Synergy University, on Wednesday 27th December, 2023, in Ouagadougou.
Russia has, thus, found fertile ground for its diplomacy. It’s a country brimming with potential, enabling this European power to broaden its foreign policy. The year 2024 should show some of the fruits of this cooperation.
