Mali ordered Swedish Ambassador Kristina Kuhnel to leave the country on Friday within three days, following the expansion of the Russia-Ukraine conflict into West Africa.

The move comes after the Malian interim government announced it was severing diplomatic relations with Ukraine following Kiev's involvement in a recent terrorist attack that resulted in the deaths of Malian soldiers and Russian military contractors supporting Tuareg militants.

Mali's Foreign Ministry issued a statement demanding Kuhnel's departure in response to a recent Swedish ministerial statement about reducing aid to Mali.

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Following Mali's decision to sever diplomatic ties with Ukraine, Sweden's International Cooperation and Trade Minister Johan Forssell said in a post on X on Wednesday, "It is impossible to support Russia's illegal aggression against Ukraine while receiving hundreds of millions of crowns annually in development aid."

The Malian Foreign Ministry condemned Forssell's remarks as "hostile" and issued a 72-hour ultimatum for Sweden's ambassador to depart the country.

It is worth noting that the Swedish ambassador was summoned Friday to the Malian Foreign Ministry to address the minister's statement.

In a separate announcement in June, the Swedish embassy revealed that it had already begun preparations to withdraw from Mali and had ended its representation agreement with Denmark concerning Schengen visas.

Violation of Malian sovereignty

Earlier this week, Mali's transitional government accused Kiev of violating the country's sovereignty since its actions “go beyond the scope of foreign interference” by breaching international law.

In response to “Ukraine’s acknowledged and assumed involvement in the blatant aggression against Mali,” Bamako decided to immediately sever the diplomatic relations between Mali and Ukraine while instigating legal action following Yusov and Pivovarov's statements which “constitute acts of terrorism and advocacy of terrorism.” 

The statement added the government will be taking precautions “to prevent any destabilization of Mali from African states, particularly from Ukrainian embassies,” and issued “a formal alert” “to regional and international bodies, as well as to states supporting Ukraine, indicating that Ukraine has openly and publicly displayed its support for terrorism.”

Despite assuming a neutral stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, Mali has stated it supports Moscow's warning to the world following “the neo-Nazi and villainous nature of the Ukrainian authorities.”