Russian and American soldiers have recently been stationed at a military base in Niger. However, US troops will not remain in the African country much longer.
According to the US government, Russian soldiers in Niger have been relocated to a military airfield where US troops are also stationed. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Thursday during a visit to the US state of Hawaii that the Russian deployment did not pose a “significant problem in terms of protecting our armed forces.” The Russians are on a separate site and have “no access to US forces or our equipment.”
In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov neither wanted to confirm nor deny reports about the Russian presence at the base in Niger. Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, tensions between Washington and Moscow have increased.
Niger withdraws from alliance with USA
On July 26, 2023, the military overthrew the democratically elected President Mohamed Bazoum in Niger, took power and increasingly turned to Russia. Until then, Niger was considered one of the last allies in the region for the USA and the former colonial power France. They use Niger as a starting point for operations against jihadists. The last French soldiers left the country in December due to demands from the military government.
