US pursues ‘narrowing’ window of diplomacy in Niger after military ‘power grab’

The U.S. has no plans to evacuate its diplomatic and military presence in Niger, even as European partners are exiting the country after a coup attempt was launched last week against the democratically elected president. 

National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby on Tuesday said that the U.S. is focusing on a “narrowing” space for diplomacy to reinstate Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum, who was arrested on July 26 by military leaders supporting Gen. Abdourahmane Tchiani. 

“We haven’t seen full support in the military, or quite frankly in the public down there for this guy Tchiani’s attempted power grab,” Kirby said in a briefing with reporters. 

The U.S. has withheld calling the military overthrow of Bazoum a “coup,” maintaining hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance to the country, which hosts about 1,000 U.S. troops and two drone bases. 

Niger is a key base of operations for U.S. intelligence gathering in the Sahel and eastern Africa, and Nigerian forces are trained and advised by the American military. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken, while on diplomatic travel in Australia, said that U.S. economic and security assistance to Niger “​depends on the continuation of the democratic governance and constitutional order.” 

Kirby echoed that position Tuesday and added that while the U.S. is watching the situation in the country “by the hour,” the Biden administration is “not in a position to be willing to make a decision about U.S. assistance right now.”

There are also no immediate plans to evacuate U.S. citizens from the country, even as France and Spain are reportedly evacuating their citizens and other Europeans following the border closures imposed by Niger’s military. 

“We don’t have any indications of direct threats to U.S. citizens or to our facilities and so, we’ve not changed our posture with respect to our presence in Niger at this time,” Kirby said.

The White House is further dismissing that Russia has played a role in the unfolding military takeover in the country, with reports of pro-Russian and anti-Western protests, in particular targeting France’s mission in the country and taking place in the streets.   

On Sunday, protesters in support of the military set fire to a door at the French Embassy, The Associated Press reported, denouncing the former colonial occupier of the country, waving Russian flags and chanting in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

“In our view, there’s no indication that Russia was behind this,” Kirby said.

Putin has focused on the African continent as a key area of influence to push back against the U.S. and the West on the global stage as he prosecutes his war in Ukraine. 

The Russian president pulled out of a United Nations-mediated deal to allow the export of grain from Ukraine, largely to countries in Africa, and has promised to make up for the shortfall with hundreds of thousands of tons of grain delivered “free of charge.” 

But Kirby said that any link between Russia and Niger is bluster, that Moscow and its proxy forces — including the private military group Wagner that is active in neighboring Mali — “like to take credit for unrest that might be happening there.”

“But we’ve seen no indication that they’re responsible,” Kirby said.

“So we’re not overly concerned about some massive Russian effect here.”