MOSCOW, August 17. /TASS/. Burkina Faso counts on Russia's assistance in a number of areas in the security sphere, the parties understand each other well, Defense and Veterans Affairs Minister Kassoum Coulibaly told TASS.

At the same time, he emphasized that Africans themselves should ensure their own security. "No one can provide security better than we ourselves," he said. "Russia can help us; we count on it in some areas. But we will suffer if Russian soldiers come to die for us when we have the hands, the brains and the inclination to do so. We may lack certain knowledge, we may lack equipment - yes, let them (Russians - TASS) help us, let them. But we don't want anyone to take our place," the top defense official emphasized.

According to him, Russia's approaches are in line with this logic. "We prefer to learn the hard way and face our realities and what lies ahead. So we understand each other well on this principle with our Russian friends," the minister concluded.

Coulibaly was on a visit to Moscow to participate in the Army-2024 international military and technical forum, which was held on August 12-14. Coulibaly met with his Russian counterpart Minister Andrey Belousov on the sidelines of the event.