No Going Back To ECOWAS; Russia, Iran Ready To Sell Any Weapons To Us—Burkina Faso Military Ruler

Burkina Faso military ruler, Capt. Ibrahim Traore says his government has solidified the country’s diplomatic ties with the Russian Government to the extent of getting any weapons without restrictions.

Mr Traore, who mentioned this in a video seen by SaharaReporters, stated that his country, Niger, and Mali’s decision to exit the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was final.

SaharaReporters had reported how the military regimes in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger on Sunday announced their immediate withdrawal from the West African bloc.

The declaration was made in Ouagadougou, Bamako and Niamey on January 28, 2024.

In their joint statement obtained by SaharaReporters, the military regimes gave their reasons for taking the action.

According to them, ECOWAS has deviated from the ideals of the founding fathers and pan-Africanism.

Speaking further on what led to the decision, Ibrahim Traore said the sanctions imposed on Niger Republic had no basis in any laws of ECOWAS.

He said, “There are many putschists among them. So, it is not a question of putschists, it is just a mask. But they themselves have never respected their texts.

“The sanctions imposed on Niger do not exist anywhere in the text. So, the first to violate these texts are these so-called democrats.

“No, it is finished (We can’t go back to ECOWAS). With Russia, there is no equipment that we want to pay for with them that they don’t sell. Others place restrictions on us. Of course, they tell us we can buy any type of weapon.

“There are many countries: Russian, Chinese, Turkish, Korean and so on. There are no restrictions, with Iran, whatever we want. They will take stock, if we can pay, we pay.”