MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Moscow will continue its interaction with the G5 Sahel (Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Chad and Mauritania) on arms supplies to fight terrorism, Special Presidential Representative for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters on Friday.
"Naturally, there will be contacts [with the G5 Sahel]," the senior diplomat pointed out when asked by TASS about the prospects of further interaction, "We have helped and will continue to help [them in the fight against terrorism]".
He noted that the group was undergoing "some internal structural changes" currently because problems had arisen over Mali’s participation. "We also have bilateral [communication] with all the countries of the ‘five’," he added, "So there are contacts, and they will continue. We will see what format will be optimal for our partners. <...> Interaction here is largely focused on the fight against terrorism and extremism, because this Sahara-Sahel zone has become a hotbed of international terrorism and, of course, because of the collapse of Libya’s statehood and the spread of these processes to the south," the envoy said.
The senior diplomat noted that the terrorist threat in the region had not subsided and the West’s military presence was "not so effective".