Question: Recently, it has become known that Mali has severed diplomatic ties with Ukraine because the Vladimir Zelensky regime supports terrorism in this country. Would you comment on this?

Maria Zakharova: On August 4, an official statement was made by the transitional government of the Republic of Mali that the country was to immediately cut diplomatic relations with Ukraine. The reason were the statements made by Ukrainian officials – namely, the spokesperson for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Defence Ministry Andrei Yusov and Ambassador to Senegal Yury Pivovarov – regarding Kiev’s assistance to terrorist forces that carried out an attack on a column of Malian military personnel in northern Mali in late July.

The government’s statement strongly condemns the aggressive actions and hostility of the Ukrainian authorities that ignore Mali’s position of constantly calling for a peaceful settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Attention is drawn to the accuracy of the assessment made by Moscow, which has repeatedly warned about the neo-Nazi and vile nature of the Zelensky regime’s policy, which entered into an alliance with international terrorism.

The Malian authorities have warned the international community and countries supporting Kiev that this support would be regarded as assistance for international terrorism, and called the Africans to condemn Ukraine’s subversive actions that pose a threat to the stability on the continent. Mali expressed its gratitude to the friendly countries that showed solidarity following the attacks carried out with support from foreign sponsors.

Ukraine’s abovementioned actions were condemned by many African countries. Ukraine Ambassador in Dakar Yury Pivovarov was summoned to the Senegalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Burkina Faso authorities also expressed their negative stance on this matter.

We understand the motives that prompted the Malian authorities to cut diplomatic relations with the Kiev regime. Kiev’s cooperation with terrorists comes as no surprise. It continues using terrorist methods on the territory of Russia, committing sabotage and political assassinations and regularly shelling civilian infrastructure facilities.

Unable to defeat Russia on the battlefield, the Zelensky criminal regime decided to open a second front in Africa, indulging terrorist groups in Russia-friendly states on the continent.

We will further draw the international community’s attention to Kiev’s barbarous behaviour, including at multilateral platforms. As latest events have shown, the terrorist nature of the Kiev regime is becoming increasingly obvious to the whole world.