US boosts Niger aid as Russia expands nearby

By Agence France-Presse

Mar 18, 2023 12:13 am

NIAMEY, Niger: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday (Friday in Manila) offered new aid as he threw his support behind Niger on a rare visit, holding up the Western military partner and new democracy as a model in a jihadist-torn region where Russia is making inroads.

Blinken is the highest-ranking US official ever to visit the former French colony, where both France and the United States maintain forces to battle insurgencies in the troubled Sahel region.

WOOING NIGER US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (left) speaks during a joint press conference with Nigerien Foreign Minister Hassoumi Massoudou at the presidential palace in Niamey, Niger, on Thursday, March 16, 2023. PHOTO BY BOUREIMA HAMA / POOL / AFP

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