Intervention by Niger’s neighboring states to oust a military junta that ousted the country’s democratically elected president looks increasingly unlikely after Nigeria’s president said “negotiations” with coup plotters should be the “cornerstone of our approach”, AFP and Agerpres reported.

Nigerian President Bola Tinubu made the comments during the opening of the new Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) summit in his country’s capital, Abuja, dedicated to finding ways to resolve the crisis caused by the coup d’état. in Niger.

ECOWAS, made up of 15 West African nations, imposed sanctions on Niger after the coup and gave the junta in Niamey an ultimatum to restore ousted President Mohamed Bazoum by August 6 or face military intervention.

But the ultimatum was not implemented after a closed session of the majority of the Nigerian Senate on Saturday opposed President Ahmed Tinubu’s request to authorize military intervention in Niger.

“Unfortunately, the ultimatum we put forward at the first summit did not yield the expected results,” the Nigerian president admitted. He now believes that the duty of the ECOWAS organization is to “exhaust all avenues of dialogue to ensure a speedy return to constitutional government in Niger.”

“It is extremely important to prioritize diplomatic negotiations and dialogue as the cornerstone of our approach,” Ahmed Tinubu said at the opening of the new ECOWAS summit. But the organization has already shown it is divided over its approach to the junta that has taken power in Niger.

The ECOWAS countries could not agree on the next course of action for Niger

Thus, only the governments of four member states, namely Nigeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, expressed a desire to take part in military action against Niger. In such an operation, Nigeria, a US ally in the region and with one of Africa’s most powerful armies, should have taken the lead, but domestic opposition has prevented President Ahmed Tinubu, at least for the time being, from withdrawing from the issue. in applying the intervention plan.

On the other hand, Algeria, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Mali said they were opposed to military action, with the latter two also warning that they would see an attack on Niger as a declaration of war against them.

Meanwhile, the United States is trying to prevent Russia from gaining influence in the Sahel region, with Washington relying, in particular, on its strengthened military ties with Niger. Strategically important and the world’s seventh largest producer of uranium, the country has become a mainstay of US and French anti-jihadist operations in the Sahel region, especially after military juntas came to power in Burkina Faso and Mali.

The latter rejected the presence of Western forces and welcomed Russian mercenaries from Wagner’s group with open arms.

US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland made an unannounced visit to Niger’s capital, Niamey, on Monday, at the end of which she acknowledged that little progress had been made in restoring President Bazoum, who has been captured by conspirators but maintains contacts. on the street, he is on the phone with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

A trusted general betrayed the US for 30 years

Victoria Nuland’s main interlocutor during this short visit was the new Chief of General Staff, appointed as a result of the coup d’état in Niger, Brigadier General Moussa Salau Barmu, who had previously worked with Washington for a long time and was considered by the United States to be an ally and a key figure in the American strategy for the Sahel region.

The United States “courted” this general for 30 years and offered him access to the prestigious National Defense University in Washington, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Asked by the WSJ about the risk of Niger losing US military aid after the coup, General Barmu said without hesitation: “If that’s the price we have to pay for our sovereignty, then so be it.”

There is little chance that the coups in Niger will recede

Victoria Nuland called the discussions with him “extremely sincere and at the moment very difficult”, not being able to get any concessions from the putschist general and even the possibility of removing the president from power.

Nuland also did not meet with the leader of Niger’s self-proclaimed presidential junta, General Abdurahaman Tiani.

The United States has a force of about 1,100 soldiers in Niger at joint military bases with Niger’s elite troops, which until a few days ago were under the command of General Barmu. Washington has spent about half a billion dollars on military aid to Niger, a country where it has established a drone base near the city of Agadez.

According to Cameron Hudson, an expert on Africa at the American think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, despite the coup, Niger is different from the states of Mali or the Central African Republic, which have become strongholds The Wagner group and the Niamey military putschists would like to maintain good relations with the United States.