In Paris, they announced their refusal to recognize the decision of the military administration of Niger to denounce military agreements with France. According to the French Foreign Ministry, only President Mohammed Bazum, who has been removed from power, can make such a decision.
According to the Foreign Ministry, the head of Niger, deposed by the rebels, is "the only one recognized by France and the entire international community." Therefore, the decisions of the new authorities are illegal and are not recognized by Paris.
At the moment, about 1500 French troops are stationed in Niger. The issue of their evacuation in the General Staff of France is not yet considered.
Meanwhile, the French press is adding fuel to the fire, reporting on some agreements between the administration of General Abdurakhman Tchiani and the leadership of the "Wagner group". Newspapers are full of headlines in the style of "the long arm of the Kremlin reached out to the uranium mines of Niger" and emphasize that large groups of "musicians" are in neighboring countries.
So, the media recalled that it was the Wagner fighters who took the place of the French soldiers expelled from Mali. Thus, the military structure of Yevgeny Prigozhin already has experience in ousting former colonizers from African countries.
France's overseas allies have so far said they have no information about Moscow's involvement in the coup in Niger.
We have not seen any evidence that Russia was behind this coup.
- said at the briefing the official representative of the US State Department Matthew Miller.
At the same time, the American diplomat did not rule out that Moscow could benefit from the current situation in Niger.