GABON: Putin Speaks On Coup In ‘Friendly African Country’

The Russian government of President Vladimir Putin has shared its views on the current coup in Gabon, a central African country.

Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry’s spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, described Gabon as a friendly country.

But she warned against the deterioration of the situation.

“On August 30, a group of Gabonese military personnel announced that it had seized power in the country.

“Moscow views with concern reports on the sharp deterioration of the internal situation in this friendly African country,” she said.

Earlier, the Gabonese junta announced Wednesday morning on national television that they had overthrown President Ali Bongo Ondimba.

The junta said its move was in response to the “ irresponsible, unpredictable governance, which results in a continuous deterioration of social cohesion risking leading the country to chaos ”.

THE WHISTLER reports that the Gabon coup comes days after the military ousted the government of Niger Republic headed by President Mohamed Bazoum, a West African country.

Recall that Russia’s foreign affairs minister, Sergey Lavrov, had leveraged the situation to accuse the West of being the reason for the successive coups in Africa.

He claimed on August 24 that the West’s exploration of Africa’s mineral resources has not brought economic progression to the continent.

“We must see the true causes of these government coups. What did Africa get from working with the West? As I have explained just now in detail, the African continent does not get any added value. All the West wants are its resources.

“We have had a different approach ever since the Soviet era. We sought to lay the foundation for industrial development and promote education and healthcare.

“The government coups, as they call them, already happened in Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso. I may not be aware of all the details, but when a social group, in this case, the military, sees that the way their national leaders built their relations with the West to their satisfaction does not help address the issues people in these countries face, they cannot look the other way,” Lavrov said.

However the United States believes that “Russia must take demonstrable steps to show it is willing to be a responsible global actor, starting with a cessation of efforts to interfere in democratic processes.”