Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a peaceful resolution in resolving the Niger crisis as West African military chiefs from the regional ECOWAS bloc meet in Ghana over the possible use of force to restore democratic rule.

Speaking by phone with Mali’s military leader and transitional president, Assimi Goita, about the situation in Niger, the Russian leader expressed more concern about stability in the wider Sahel region, Al Jazeera reports. 

Putin “stressed the importance of a peaceful resolution of the situation for a more stable Sahel,” Goita said on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter).

The Kremlin said in a statement that the call was initiated by Mali, which along with Burkina Faso and Guinea are also run by juntas, and have expressed support to their Nigerien counterpart and cautioned against military involvement.

“The parties specifically focused on the current situation in the Sahara-Sahel region and emphasised, in particular, the importance of settling the situation in the Republic of Niger solely through peaceful political and diplomatic means,” the Kremlin statement said, according to AFP news agency.

Niger, under deposed President Mohamed Bazoum, has been a key ally to powerhouses including the United States, China, Europe, and Russia in part due to its uranium and oil resources, and its role as a hub for foreign forces fighting armed groups in the region.

According to Al Jazeera, Putin’s call is likely to rattle Western governments that fear growing Russian influence in the Sahel, many hundred Wagner mercenaries provide security to autocratic regimes.  

World leaders, including the regional ECOWAS bloc are mounting pressure on the military junta in Niamey to return to constitutional rule and to reinstate President Bazoum, who was ousted on July 26 and put under house arrest with his family since.

ECOWAS military chiefs are meeting in Ghana on Thursday (August 17) and Friday to discuss a possible military intervention in Niger, regional military and political sources have told Reuters.

The meeting was called after the bloc’s leaders last week approved the deployment of a “standby force to restore constitutional order” in Niger.

The heads of state of ECOWAS convened in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on August 10 and reaffirmed the bloc’s preference for a diplomatic outcome while also readying a military force.