Ivory Coast alone is home to more than 5 million people from Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Earlier this month, Russia and Niger, ruled by a junta since a coup last year, agreed to develop military ties. Russian military personnel flew into Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou last week to ensure the safety of the country's military leader. EMPTY THREATECOWAS has responded to a wave of coups in the region since 2020 with sanctions that the juntas have called "illegal and inhumane." "The departure from ECOWAS will have catastrophic consequences for the ability to respond to the many security challenges facing this region," said Abba.

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Persons: Bate Felix, David Lewis, Giulia Paravicini, Seidik Abba, Russia's Wagner, Mucahid Durmaz, Verisk Maplecroft, Charlie Robertson, Kwesi Aning, Gilles Yabi, Adama Coulibaly, Nagnouma Keita, Abba, Tiemoko Diallo, Boureima, Silvia Aloisi, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: Giulia Paravicini DAKAR, West, West African States, Reuters, Islamic, FIM Partners, European Union, ECOWAS, CFA Locations: Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Russia, Ivory Coast, Niger . Niger, Nigeria, Paris, Ghana, Togo, Benin, France, United States, Burkina Faso's, Ouagadougou, West Africa, United, London, Bamako, Guinea, China