MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. The situation in Mali is developing in a positive and encouraging direction, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of African States to the South of Sahara Anatoly Bashkin told TASS.
"We view the current stage of developments as quite positive and encouraging," the diplomat said.
He cited several reasons for this assessment. "First, thanks to the successful actions of the Africa Corps [of the Russian Defense Ministry], supported by the Malian armed forces, military garrisons in Anefis and other settlements have been relieved. Second, another positive development is a certain improvement in relations between Algeria and Mali, with the two countries’ ambassadors expected to return to their posts in the near future," Bashkin said. "And, apparently, the beginning of some kind of negotiation process that will have a positive impact on the situation in the border area and make it possible to reach compromise solutions regarding the status of the Tuaregs, while fully preserving Mali’s territorial integrity," the Russian Foreign Ministry official added.
On April 25, 2026, coordinated attacks by radical armed groups targeted several cities in Mali. Defense and Veterans Affairs Minister Sadio Camara was killed. Later that day, the General Staff of the Malian Armed Forces said all militant attacks had been repelled and that the attackers had suffered heavy losses. Fousseynou Ouattara, vice chairman of the defense commission of Mali’s Transitional Council, previously told TASS that the Russian Defense Ministry’s Africa Corps had played a key role in defeating the terrorists in Mali.