BAMAKO /Mali/, February 7. /TASS/. Mali rejected further cooperation with France as the bilateral ties no longer met its national interests, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said following talks with Russia’s top diplomat, Sergey Lavrov, on Tuesday.

"As for France, we have come to all the conclusions," he said. "This cooperation failed to meet the aspirations of the Malian people," he added.

According to Diop, "our goal is to foster our country’s autonomous and independent capability to defend Mali’s integrity, and today, we are quite capable of doing so."

The Malian foreign minister insisted that any country seeking to cooperate with his nation must observe the principle of Mali’s sovereignty and respect its right to choose a partner it needs.

"They should respect our interests, and this should be a sincere partnership that would not ignite any discord between any sections of our society," Diop underscored as he said this applied not only to France, but to "any other nation who would like to cooperate with us.".