OREANDA-NEWS Mali's Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said that the country highly appreciates the prompt delivery of military equipment purchased from Russia. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti.

Diop thanked Russia for its prompt delivery of weapons and noted that Mali is "very interested" in purchasing Russian weapons. According to him, the country also appreciates the attitude of the government and Russian President Vladimir Putin to Mali's requests.

"We highly appreciate the prompt delivery of all military equipment that Mali buys, and all the support that we receive from Russia," the minister said.

Rane Mali decided to mine rare earth metal in partnership with Russia. This was announced by the country's Minister of Economy and Finance, Alusseni Sanu. "We turned to Russia with the issue of developing such an important raw material as lithium in order to establish a strategic partnership," he said.