Niger Breaks Off Diplomatic Ties With Ukraine

Niger said Tuesday it was cutting diplomatic ties with Ukraine "with immediate effect", accusing Kyiv of supporting "terrorist groups", two days after Mali took a similar step.

The decisions to break relations with Ukraine come in the wake of heavy losses suffered by the Malian army in late July at the hands of jihadists and separatist forces, which they blamed in part on Ukraine.

Niger said it would ask the UN Security Council to debate Ukraine's "aggression", government spokesman Amadou Abdramane said in a televised statement.

Niger and Mali are both run by military governments that took power in recent coups, went on to rip up defence agreements with France and turn to Russia for military help.

Several soldiers from Russia's Wagner paramilitary group were reportedly killed alongside Malian soldiers during July's debacle in the north of the country.

"The government of the Republic of Niger, in total solidarity with the government and people of Mali, decides in complete sovereignty to sever diplomatic relations between the Republic of Niger and Ukraine with immediate effect," Abdramane said.

Mali's government spokesman Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga said Sunday that Mali broke off relations following remarks by Andriy Yusov, spokesman for Ukraine's military intelligence agency the GUR.

Yusov was quoted by state media as saying: "The rebels received all the necessary information they needed," without elaborating.

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"The government of the Republic of Niger learned with great amazement and deep indignation, the subversive and unacceptable remarks of Mr. Andriy Yusov," Abdramane said in his statement.

The Ukrainian foreign ministry said Monday that Ukraine "unconditionally adheres to the norms of international law" and "firmly rejects the accusations of the transitional government of Mali", adding that it regretted Bamako's "hasty" decision.

Three days of intense fighting erupted near the Algerian border on July 25 at a military camp at Tinzaouatene.

Tuareg-led separatists said on Thursday they had killed 84 fighters from Wagner and 47 Malian soldiers.

Mali's army has admitted it suffered a "large number" of deaths during the fighting but has not released figures.