Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso on Wednesday accused Ukraine of supporting international terrorism.
In a letter to the UN Security Council, the three countries asked the Council to “take responsibility” for Ukraine's actions and to prevent “subversive acts” that threaten regional and continental stability.
The letter, seen by Asharq Al-Awsat, was signed by Burkina Faso’s foreign minister, Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, Mali's foreign minister, Abdoulaye Diop and Niger’s foreign minister, Bakari Yao Sangari.
The three ministers said they were sending their letter to the president of the Security Council, based on instructions from the “higher authorities” of the three countries involved in the Sahel States Alliance.
The letter, they said, comes after “Ukraine's support for terrorism in the Sahel region.”
The letter strongly condemns “Ukraine’s open and assumed support for international terrorism particularly in Africa’s Sahel region.”
It referred to comments by a spokesperson for Ukraine's military intelligence agency admitting Kiev's support for armed movements in northern Mali during an attack last July by Tuareg and Arab militants targeting dozens of Wagner fighters and the Malian army.
Both ethnic Tuareg separatists and insurgents operate in north Mali. The Tuareg said they had killed at least 84 Wagner mercenaries and 47 Malian soldiers over days of fierce fighting in July.
In response to the attack, the three countries have severed diplomatic relationships with Ukraine.
In their joint letter addressed to the Permanent Representative of Sierra Leone to the United Nations, the foreign ministers called upon the Security Council to assume its responsibilities with regard to Ukraine's deliberate choice to support terrorism in Africa, particularly in Sahel region.
Diplomats said the letter was circulated to the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday evening.
In late July, Wagner group and Malian armed forces reported heavy losses after clashes with Tuareg militants in the northeastern village of Tinzawaten on the border with Algeria.
Later, Ukrainian intelligence official Andriy Yusov and Ukrainian Ambassador to Senegal Yuriy Pivovarov expressed Ukraine’s support for the attack.
Yusov had said Malian rebels had received necessary information to conduct a successful military operation.
