Russian President Vladimir Putin met privately with Burkina Faso’s interim military leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore, on Monday.
Reports claimed that the details of the meeting were not clear, but there are speculations that it was part of Putin’s plans to meet with French-speaking West African countries ruled by the military.
A short clip of the meeting was posted on social media by Jackson Hinkle, who wrote, “Putin held a private meeting with the world’s youngest leader, Captain Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso.”
Traore is the leader of Burkina Faso bafter becoming the interim leader of the African country following the coup on September 30, 2022, which ousted interim president Paul-Henri Sandaogo Damiba.
Mali and Burkina Faso have pledged their support to Niger, as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued a one-week ultimatum to the junta to reinstate ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.
The deadline elapsed on Sunday and the ECOWAS leaders said they would converge again on Thursday to decide on their next move.