Russia and Mali sign trade deals, eye nuclear energy co-operation
Russia signed agreements to bolster trade and economic ties with Mali on Monday and President Vladimir Putin told the visiting leader of the West African country's military junta that there were specific areas where co-operation could be ramped up.
Putin received Col Assimi Goita in the Kremlin, where the two spoke for two hours, Russian state media said.
Putin said relations with Mali had a 'good upward trend' even if bilateral trade was currently 'modest', according to a Kremlin readout.
'There are good areas for future co-operation: these are geological exploration, natural resource development, energy, logistics and the humanitarian fields,' Putin said.
One of the deals Putin and Goita signed concerned co-operation in nuclear energy, the Kremlin said.
Mali and Russia have in the past discussed what they have called a strategic project to build a Russian-designed low-power nuclear power plant.
Construction began earlier this month in Mali on a new Russian-backed gold refinery, which Goita, who seized power after coups in 2020 and 2021, has said would give the Western African country greater control over its natural resources.
Mali is one of Africa's top gold producers, but lacks a functional and globally certified refinery.
Russian mercenary groups have also supported Goita's government with deployments of fighters after the Malian army kicked out French and UN troops that had been involved in fighting the Islamist insurgents for a decade.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
TimesLIVE
28 minutes ago
- TimesLIVE
Israel and Iran agree on ceasefire to end 12-day war, Trump says
US President Donald Trump announced on Monday a complete ceasefire between Israel and Iran, potentially ending the 12-day war that saw millions flee Tehran and prompted fears of further escalation in the war-torn region. But there was no confirmation from Israel and the Israeli military said it had detected missiles launched from Iran towards Israel in the early hours of Tuesday. 'Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,' the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement. Israel, joined by the US on the weekend, has carried out attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, after alleging Tehran was getting close to obtaining a nuclear weapon. 'On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, 'THE 12 DAY WAR',' Trump wrote on his Truth Social site. While an Iranian official earlier confirmed that Tehran had agreed to a ceasefire, the country's foreign minister said there would be no cessation of hostilities unless Israel stopped its attacks. Abbas Araqchi said early on Tuesday that if Israel stopped its 'illegal aggression' against the Iranian people no later than 4am. Tehran time (0030 GMT) on Tuesday, Iran had no intention of continuing its response afterwards. There have been no reported Israeli attacks on Iran since that time. 'The final decision on the cessation of our military operations will be made later,' Araqchi added in a post on X. A senior White House official said Trump had brokered the deal in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel had agreed so long as Iran did not launch further attacks. Trump appeared to suggest that Israel and Iran would have some time to complete any missions that are under way, at which point the ceasefire would begin in a staged process. Iran denies ever having a nuclear weapons program but Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said that if it wanted to, world leaders 'wouldn't be able to stop us'. Israel, which is not a party to the international Non-Proliferation Treaty, is the only country in the Middle East believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that. Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani secured Tehran's agreement during a call with Iranian officials, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters on Tuesday. US vice-president JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US special envoy Steve Witkoff were in direct and indirect contact with the Iranians, the White House official said. Neither Iran's UN mission nor the Israeli embassy in Washington responded to separate requests for comment from Reuters. Hours earlier, three Israeli officials had signalled Israel was looking to wrap up its campaign in Iran soon and had passed the message on to the US. Netanyahu had told government ministers whose discussions ended early on Tuesday not to speak publicly, Israel's Channel 12 television reported. Markets reacted favourably to the news. S&P 500 futures rose 0.4% late on Monday, suggesting traders expect the US stock market to open with gains on Tuesday. US crude futures fell in early Asian trading hours on Tuesday to their lowest level in more than a week after Trump said a ceasefire had been agreed, relieving worries of supply disruption in the region. END TO THE FIGHTING? There did not appear to be calm yet in the region. The Israeli military issued two evacuation warnings in less than two hours to residents of areas in the Iranian capital Tehran, one late on Monday and one early on Tuesday. Israeli Army radio reported early on Tuesday that alarms were activated in the southern Golan Heights area due to fears of hostile aircraft intrusion. Earlier on Monday, Trump said he would encourage Israel to proceed towards peace after dismissing Iran's attack on an American airbase that caused no injuries and thanking Tehran for the early notice of the strikes. He said Iran fired 14 missiles at the US airbase, calling it 'a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered.' Iran's handling of the attack recalled earlier clashes with the US and Israel, with Tehran seeking a balance between saving face with a military response but without provoking a cycle of escalation it can't afford. Tehran appears to have achieved that goal. Iran's attack came after US bombers dropped 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iranian underground nuclear facilities at the weekend, joining Israel's air war. Much of Tehran's population of 10 million has fled after days of bombing. The Trump administration maintains that its aim was solely to destroy Iran's nuclear program, not to open a wider war. 'Iran was very close to having a nuclear weapon,' vice-president JD Vance said in an interview on Fox News' 'Special Report with Bret Baier.' 'Now Iran is incapable of building a nuclear weapon with the equipment they have because we destroyed it,' Vance said. Trump has cited intelligence reports that Iran was close to building a nuclear weapon, without elaborating. However, US intelligence agencies said earlier this year they assessed that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and a source with access to US intelligence reports told Reuters last week that that assessment hadn't changed. But in a social media post on Sunday, Trump spoke of toppling the hardline clerical rulers who have been Washington's principal foes in the Middle East since Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Israel, however, had made clear that its strikes on Evin prison — a notorious jail for housing political prisoners — and other targets in Tehran were intended to hit the Iranian ruling apparatus broadly, and its ability to sustain power.
eNCA
10 hours ago
- eNCA
Iran-Israel war: latest developments
Israel struck Tehran and Iran fired missiles on Monday, as the war between the longtime foes raged for its 11th day after the United States sent bombers to attack the Islamic republic's nuclear sites. Here are the latest developments: - Iran Guards, Tehran prison - Israel carried out "strikes of unprecedented force against regime targets and agencies of government oppression in the heart of Tehran", Defence Minister Israel Katz said as an AFP journalist heard loud blasts in the north of the Iranian capital. Katz said the targets included the notorious Evin prison in the city's north, known to hold political prisoners and dissidents as well as foreign detainees. Iran's judiciary confirmed Evin was struck, reporting "damage" and stressing the situation was "under control". Israel also carried out a strike on Fordo, according to the military and Iranian media, a day after US "bunker buster" bombs hit the underground nuclear site south of Tehran. In Israel, air raid sirens sent people to bomb shelters on Monday, with the military reporting at least three missile barrages in less than two hours. The state power company said that "damage near a strategic infrastructure facility" in Israel's south caused outages. In Tehran, authorities said electricity supply disrupted by an Israeli attack was restored. Israeli strikes on Iran since June 13 have killed more than 400 people, Iran's health ministry said. Iran's attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures. - 'Extension of war' - Iran's armed forces threatened on Monday to inflict "serious, unpredictable consequences" on the United States in retaliation for its strikes on the Isfahan, Natanz and Fordo nuclear sites. "This hostile act... will widen the scope of legitimate targets of the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran and pave the way for the extension of war in the region," said armed forces spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari. Ali Akbar Velayati, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said bases used by US forces "in the region or elsewhere" could be attacked. The US embassy in Bahrain -- home to a major US military base -- reduced on-site staffing citing "heightened regional tensions". - 'Spillover' - China on Monday warned against "the spillover of war", urging the international community to do more to prevent the fighting from impacting the world's economy, noting the global importance of the Gulf maritime trade routes off the Iranian coast. Oil prices briefly fell into the red on Monday after surging, as traders weighed possible retaliation by Iran. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on China to help deter Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for one-fifth of the world's oil supply. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said closing the strait would be "extremely dangerous". Russian President Vladimir Putin slammed attacks on Iran as "unprovoked" and "unjustified" in a Moscow meeting with Tehran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, without announcing any concrete support to his key ally in the Middle East. - Nuclear stockpiles - The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency demanded Monday the return of inspectors to Iran's nuclear sites in a bid to "account for" its highly enriched uranium stockpiles. "Allow IAEA inspectors... to go back to Iran's nuclear sites and account for the stockpiles of uranium" including the "400 kilograms enriched to 60 percent", said agency chief Rafael Grossi. At an emergency meeting of the organisation's headquarters in Vienna, he said Tehran had sent him a letter on June 13 announcing the implementation of "special measures to protect nuclear equipment and materials".
TimesLIVE
11 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Russia and Mali sign trade deals, eye nuclear energy co-operation
Russia signed agreements to bolster trade and economic ties with Mali on Monday and President Vladimir Putin told the visiting leader of the West African country's military junta that there were specific areas where co-operation could be ramped up. Putin received Col Assimi Goita in the Kremlin, where the two spoke for two hours, Russian state media said. Putin said relations with Mali had a 'good upward trend' even if bilateral trade was currently 'modest', according to a Kremlin readout. 'There are good areas for future co-operation: these are geological exploration, natural resource development, energy, logistics and the humanitarian fields,' Putin said. One of the deals Putin and Goita signed concerned co-operation in nuclear energy, the Kremlin said. Mali and Russia have in the past discussed what they have called a strategic project to build a Russian-designed low-power nuclear power plant. Construction began earlier this month in Mali on a new Russian-backed gold refinery, which Goita, who seized power after coups in 2020 and 2021, has said would give the Western African country greater control over its natural resources. Mali is one of Africa's top gold producers, but lacks a functional and globally certified refinery. Russian mercenary groups have also supported Goita's government with deployments of fighters after the Malian army kicked out French and UN troops that had been involved in fighting the Islamist insurgents for a decade.
