The authorities of Mali have taken advantage of their intervention before the United Nations General Assembly this Monday to denounce the alleged interference of Ukraine in the internal affairs of the country, accusing Kiev of supporting "terrorist groups" with the aim of destabilizing the territory, and demanding "not to remain silent".
During his speech at the closing session of the Assembly, held in New York, the Malian Foreign Minister, Abdoulaye Diop, reiterated his "strong condemnation of international terrorism and its foreign state sponsors", pointing directly to Kiev among the actors that "finance, arm, provide logistical support and intelligence services" to organizations that, he said, are integrated into networks of "transnational organized crime".
Diop highlighted Ukraine's public support for certain groups in the region in order to influence the Sahel, an area where Russia maintains a strong presence. "That country publicly reiterated, at the highest level, its state interference in Africa and beyond our States," emphasized the head of Mali's diplomacy before the plenary.
In this regard, he reproached that Ukraine "claims to be protecting its territorial integrity and, at the same time, in Africa and in the Sahel, provides clear support to terrorist groups", which, in his opinion, undermines the territorial integrity of states like Mali and exacerbates regional instability.
The minister maintained that, "given our history, the international community, and Africa in particular, cannot simply remain silent in the face of what Ukraine is doing. This has enormous consequences for African countries and goes beyond them," warning that the implications of these actions extend across the entire continent.
Diop insisted that Kiev is "simply a visible part of the iceberg" of a broader framework that aims to "destabilize" Mali and "break" the will of the authorities in Bamako to free themselves "from the colonial yoke".
According to the minister, externally supported terrorism operates not only through armed violence but also through economic mechanisms and "organized and systematic" disinformation campaigns, which, in his opinion, seek to undermine the sovereignty of the country and condition the international perception of the situation in Mali.