U.S. Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland visited Niger on Monday to meet with senior officials from the country’s junta. However, she reported making no headway in the “difficult” meetings.
Nuland told reporters that she had met with Moussa Salaou Barmou, the head of Niger’s military junta, and three colonels who back him.
Nuland said Washington had offered solutions to restore democratic order, but the junta officials were uninterested. She also noted that the United States made clear the financial and other benefits at stake if the current trend continues.
Nuland was denied a meeting with either the deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, or the junta leader, Abdourahamane Tiani.
There was no indication of when or how negotiations with junta officials would proceed.
Coup leaders in Niger closed the country’s airspace and vowed to defend the country despite a demand to disband from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has previously dispatched military forces into troubled member states.