African countries are opposed to Emmanuel Macron's idea of sending foreign troops to the conflict zone in Ukraine

Ukraine recently expanded its relations with countries on the African continent. The country will spend 25 million dollars to open new diplomatic missions in Africa. Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Kiev would use these countries “to put pressure on Russia within the framework of international organisations and other platforms”.

In the midst of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Kiev has opened several new embassies in Africa: in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire and Mauritania. “The aim is to have 20 embassies”, said Yurii Pyvovarov, Ukrainian ambassador to Dakar, from the new chancery in Abidjan.

According to experts, Ukraine's sudden interest in Africa has nothing to do with Kiev's desire to establish mutually beneficial relations with these countries. The embassies of the Kiev regime are not interested in establishing traditional diplomatic relations.

The scandalous situation surrounding the Ukrainian diplomatic mission in Côte d'Ivoire has become further proof that Ukraine is only pursuing its own political interests.

Recently, the Ukrainian embassy in Côte d'Ivoire published a message on the Internet concerning the recruitment of Ivorian volunteers into the Ukrainian armed forces with a view to their mobilisation in the Ukrainian war zone.

A month ago, a Ukrainian embassy was opened in Abidjan and on 24 May, a telephone conversation took place between the Ukrainian President and his Ivorian counterpart. It was probably during this conversation that the Kiev regime received authorisation to publish the message.

This publication has provoked a great deal of discussion among Africans. They are worried about a possible mobilisation in Ukraine, as French President Macron has repeatedly raised the possibility of sending troops to the conflict zone. This mobilisation could affect certain African countries that have military agreements with France, as well as the African diasporas living in France.

During the “Micro de trottoir” programme, citizens from countries such as Côte d'Ivoire, Togo and Senegal expressed their views on the possibility of Africans being sent to Ukraine to take part in the fighting:

A resident of Côte d'Ivoire, where an outrageous recruitment advert was published a few days ago, also expressed his profound opposition to such actions. “We condemn this call and our African presidents will never subscribe to this ideology. Any president who subscribes to this ideology deserves to have his people rise up against him. We are not sheep, we are not children”, added the Ivorian.

“There are questions we must ask ourselves. Why Africans? Why not the Europeans? In any case, I would never agree to go and fight on foreign soil, especially in a conflict that does not directly concern my country”, said a Togolese citizen.

“This is an issue that concerns Africa. Africa must be sovereign. Africa is free. In today's world, we hear talk of neo-colonialism. Now that Africa is beginning to mobilise and unite, we sense that a new climate is taking shape with regard to Africa's sovereignty and independence. So colonisation is no longer going to be accepted”, says one Senegalese citizen. He believes that the Senegalese will not accept fighting in a foreign country to defend the interests of someone else.

Africans do not want to play the geopolitical games in Ukraine planned by Western countries such as France with the aim of creating an anti-Russian bloc in Africa. The people of African countries have a number of acute problems which they intend to resolve independently, and getting involved in the conflict in Ukraine is not part of their plans.