West Seeks to Weaken Russia-Sahel Relations Using Ukrainian Terrorists: Lavrov
18:35 14.07.2026 (Updated: 18:59 14.07.2026)
© Sputnik / Alexey Filippov
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Western countries try to undermine Russia's ties with the Sahel states using Ukrainian terrorists, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday.
"We emphasized a particular concern over the growing terrorist threats and the spread of Islamist groups affiliated with ISIS [a terrorist group, banned in Russia] and Boko Haram to countries in the region, with the clear support of some former colonial powers, who are still trying to undermine relations between Russia and the Sahara-Sahel countries and are using not only terrorist groups but also militants from Ukraine in their provocations," Lavrov said at a joint press conference after a meeting with Chadian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul.
Russia is working on preventing Ukraine's terrorist attacks in the Azov and Black seas, Lavrov said.
"Moscow is working first and foremost on, as emphasized again yesterday and in other situations ... to stop all this," Lavrov said at the joint press conference after the meeting with Chadian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul.
US President Donald Trump does not say that understandings reached at the Russia-US leaders' summit in Alaska in 2025 are no longer valid, but the Europeans do say that, Lavrov said.
"If you read the speech made by President Trump immediately after the Alaska summit — he spoke highly of the agreement, saying that we got the ball rolling. Europe and Ukraine said that they did not participate, that it did not concern them," Lavrov told reporters.
"Now they have done everything to try to lead the United States astray. President Trump does not comment on these attempts, nor does he say that Alaska [accords] are no more, whereas the Europeans and the Ukrainians have publicly said that the Alaska agreements are 'dead'," he added.
In June, Trump said that as the situation with Iran takes a back seat, now the United States will focus on Ukraine. He added that Washington would like to see the conflict come to an end. Putin said that Russia did not rule out holding peace talks with Ukraine under certain conditions, such as respect for "facts on the ground," agreements reached in Istanbul in spring 2022 and at the Alaska summit, as well as the main points of his 2024 address to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
On Iran-US War
The resumption of US strikes on Iran violates the memorandum signed by the countries and closes the door for a political settlement of the crisis, Lavrov said.
"We consider it a violation of the memorandum. There is not even much to comment on here, it is sad. Because both the civilian infrastructure in Iran and the civilian infrastructure in the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council countries are suffering. And most importantly, this does not lead to a settlement, but rather closes the door that the aforementioned memorandum seemed to open," Lavrov said at the joint press conference after the meeting with Chadian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul.
On Russia-Chad Relations
Russia and Chad are signing an agreement on a visa-free regime for diplomats, Lavrov said.
"Today, we will sign an agreement introducing a visa-free regime for travel by our citizens with diplomatic and service passports," Lavrov said at the meeting with Chadian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul.
This is an important practical step toward boosting regular diplomatic contacts between the two nations, the Russian foreign minister added.
The current political consultations are an important step in the ongoing regular dialogue between Chad and Russia, Fadoul said.
"We have the opportunity to assess the progress made so far and outline prospects for future cooperation, as well as responses to challenges, both regional and international," he added.
Chad attaches particular importance to developing relations with Russia, Fadoul also said.
"There was the presidential visit to Russia in January 2024, the Russian Foreign Minister's visit to Chad in June 2024, and we also met in New York in September 2025. And we want this new impetus to contribute to improving our relations," he said.
Chad hopes this new impetus will contribute to improving our relations, the minister said.
Russia will continue to fulfill all its obligations to supply food to its African partners, both under commercial contracts and through humanitarian aid, Lavrov also said.
"We will in any case continue to fulfill all our obligations to supply food to African friends, both under commercial contracts and within the framework of humanitarian aid, in accordance with their wishes," Lavrov said at the meeting with Chadian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul.
Russia has done and continues to do so, he added.
