Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, mocked Victoria “Fuck the EU” Nuland’s recent trip to Niger and compared it to her destabilizing visit to Ukraine in 2013 to overthrow the government and put in place its current “banana [republic-style] regime.”

Nuland, the neocon and State Department’s #2, has been trying to put Niger’s deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, back in power. Bazoum is seen by many in the country as a stooge for France, its former colonial power, and the U.S. He was overthrown in a bloodless coup.

“Victoria Nuland thought that in Niger it would work like in Ukraine: It will be enough to bring a cellophane bag full of cookies and play everyone for a fool. But, such a banana [republic-style] regime, like the one in Kyiv, cannot be found anywhere else,” Zakharova posted on Telegram, according to TASS, the Russian outlet.

TRENDPOST: Nuland, who was a major player in the U.S.-led coup in Ukraine back in 2014, continued down her path of destruction recently when she called Crimea a legitimate target for Ukrainian forces. See:

● “WASHINGTON LOVES WARMONGERS. VICTORIA ‘FUCK THE EU’ NULAND GETS PROMOTION” (1 Aug 2023)

● “WWIII: VICTORIA ‘F-CK THE EU’ NULAND ADMITS THAT THE U.S. HAS BEEN HELPING UKRAINE PLAN FOR COUNTEROFFENSIVE” (30 May 2023)

● “U.S. UNDER SEC. VICTORIA ‘FUCK THE EU’ NULAND CALLS CRIMEA A LEGITIMATE TARGET FOR UKRAINE, ANGERS KREMLIN” (21 Feb 2023) 

● “VICTORIA ‘FUCK THE EU’ NULAND WHO SPEARHEADED OVERTHROW OF DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE IN 2014, STILL IN POWER” (22 Feb 2022.)

In 2014, she participated in the U.S. coup that installed the Western puppet Petro Poroshenko over Viktor Yanukovich, who was seen by Washington as too close to Russia.

She visited Niger last week but was denied access to Bazoum and Abdourahmane Tchiani, the head of the junta. She spoke with other military leaders and threatened to cut off U.S. support for the country. 

The military leaders reportedly replied to the threat: “We don’t want your money. Use your money to fund a weight loss program for Victoria Nuland.” 

TRENDPOST: Wherever Nuland goes, hell follows. 

Nuland warned that Niger must return to its constitutional order or face the full force of being starved out by the U.S., which does not want to see Russian forces take control of the security situation in the country because it will mean Washington has even less influence on the continent than it does now.

WSWS ran a story last week that noted that Niger is one of the growing number of countries beginning to look to Russia and China for trade and protection. 

The report noted that Niger has been hurt by ECOWAS sanctions and residents there have been dealing with rolling blackouts and food prices that are up 60 percent. Niger relies on donations from other countries for 40 percent of its budget.

“We’ll be watching this situation, but we understand our legal responsibilities and I explained those very clearly the guys who were responsible for this and that it is not our desire to go there, but they may push us to that point.”

The U.S. has about 1,500 troops in Niger under the auspices of fighting Islamic terrorists in the Sahel. The country is mineral-rich, and the U.S. and Europe are “concerned not to let Niger be another loss to the claims made by China and Russia on these riches and opportunities.”

There is a risk that any military intervention by ECOWAS countries, like Nigeria and Senegal, could lead to a wider conflict with countries like Burkina Faso and Mali, both former French colonies. A wider war could turn into another proxy war between the U.S. and Russia. 

What’s happening in the Sahel is not a sideshow to great power competition, it is great power competition,” Cohn P. Clarke, a former RAND analyst, told WSWS. “The events that are unfolding are not doing so in a vacuum. The U.S., France, China, and Russia each have their own vested interests in Sahelian countries.”

WSWS noted that the ICFI and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality called for opposition to NATO dragging the world into another war. 

“The war in Ukraine is not enough so that will soon be resolved and followed by a return to ‘normalcy.’ IT is the beginning of a violent eruption of a global crisis that can be resolved only in one of two ways: The capitalist solution leads to nuclear war, so the word ‘solution can hardly be rationally applied to what would amount to planetary suicide.’ Thus, the only viable response, from the standpoint of securing the future of mankind, is the world socialist revolution.”