The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) unanimously voted on Friday (June 30) to end its decade-long peacekeeping mission in Mali at the request of the country's military junta. The West African country's abrupt request for the end of the mission was a move the US suspected to be the doing of Russia's Wagner Group.
In the request, Malian Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop told the Security Council there was a "crisis of confidence" between the UN peacekeepers and Malian authorities.
The council adopted a French-drafted resolution asking the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) to begin "the cessation of its operations, transfer of its tasks, as well as the orderly and safe drawdown and withdrawal of its personnel, with the objective of completing this process by Dec. 31, 2023."
13,000 peacekeepers are reported to leave after the Mali government collaborated with Wagner in 2021.
UN peacekeepers are credited with playing a vital role in protecting civilians against the Islamist insurgency, which killed thousands. The sudden pullout of peacekeeper troops could lead to more bloodshed as Mali's under-equipped army is no match to militants controlling the country's northern and central deserts, even with the assistance of Wagner's 1,000-strong force.
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US Blames Wagner for UN's Pullout in Mali
Wagner is still reeling from its failed mutiny on June 24 when they aborted its march to Moscow and its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was exiled into Belarus with a portion of his contractors.
Meanwhile, the White House national security spokesperson John Kirby accused Prigozhin of engineering the departure of UN peacekeepers in Mali, saying it has information indicating Malian authorities have paid more than $200 million to Wagner since 2021.
"We know that senior Malian officials worked directly with Prigozhin employees to inform the U.N. secretary-general that Mali had revoked consent for the MINUSMA mission," he told reporters.
However, Russian deputy ambassador to the UN Anna Evstigneeva told the UNSC that Mali made a "sovereign decision" to end the peacekeeping mission to the country, saying Moscow would continue to provide "comprehensive support" to the country for "normalizing the situation" on a bilateral basis.
"We would like to confirm our support for Bamako in its aspiration to take full responsibility and play the leading role in stabilizing the Malian state," she said.
What Happens Next?
The Malian government did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment, but its UN ambassador Issa Konfourou told the UNSC it would remain "vigilant in ensuring compliance" with the withdrawal timeline.
"The government regrets that the Security Council continues to consider the situation in Mali as a threat to international peace and security," the ambassador said.
The UNSC authorized MINUSMA to continue responding to imminent threats of violence to civilians "within its immediate vicinity" and to continue with the safe and civilian-led delivery of humanitarian assistance until Sept. 30. It also asked UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the Malian government to fully cooperate during the peacekeeper withdrawal, something Konfourou confirmed Thursday (June 29).
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