Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia would continue to help Mali improve its military capabilities, a partnership that has raised concerns in the West, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

Lavrov made the comments during a visit to the West African nation, where militants linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group launched an insurgency a decade ago that has spread to neighboring countries.

Western governments are concerned about the involvement in Mali of the private military contractor Wagner, who is fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.

UN experts last week called for an independent investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity by Malian government forces and Wagner’s fighters.

Lavrov is on an official visit to a country ruled by a military junta

Authorities in Mali, where the current government came to power in 2021 after a coup, have previously said Russian forces are not made up of mercenaries but of instructors who help local troops operate equipment bought from Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year that the Russian state had nothing to do with private military contractors operating in Mali, adding that the African state had the right to cooperate with private Russian firms.

The RIA news agency quotes Sergey Lavrov as saying that Moscow hopes to start delivering grain, fertilizers and petroleum products to Mali soon.

Recently, Lavrov visited several African states, in the context of which Moscow, which has suffered from Western sanctions due to the war in Ukraine, is trying to develop commercial ties and strategic partnerships in other areas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin received several heads of African states in the Kremlin.

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