The EU on Monday decided to halt its military training missions in Mali but will keep a presence in the Sahel, the bloc's top diplomat said on Monday as German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock headed to Mali for talks with the junta .

"We are halting the training missions for the (Malian) armed forces and national guard," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell told a media conference, but added: "The Sahel remains a priority. We're not giving up on the Sahel, far from it. We want to commit even more to that region."

He spoke after chairing a meeting of the bloc's foreign ministers that discussed the issue.

Borrell said it was decided that developments in Mali "have forced us to see there were not sufficient guarantees... on non-interference by the Wagner group," a Russian private military organisation that France and other countries say is operating in Mali as an armed force.

Russia says it has only supplied what it officially describes as military instructors to Mali.

Borrell said the "notorious Wagner group... is responsible for some very serious events which have led to tens of people being killed in Mali in recent times".

France last week expressed concern over reports that Malian soldiers and Wagner mercenaries killed over 200 civilians in an operation last month in the Malian village of Moura.

Paris in February announced the withdrawal of its troops from Mali, a former colony, after a breakdown in relations with the country's ruling junta that seized power last year, ending a near 10-year deployment.

France's deployment, to fight Islamic extremists, operated separately from the EU missions.

Baerbock to meet junta chief

German Foreign Minister Baerbock will hold talks with the junta in Mali this week amid uncertainty over the future of German troops there, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.

She will then continue to Niger for talks with President Mohamed Bazoum and Foreign Minister Ibrahim Yacoubou and return to Germany on Saturday.

Baerbock's aim is to "get a precise picture of the political and security situation on the ground" as Germany weighs its ongoing participation in military missions in Mali, the spokesman said.

"The Bamako government has lost the confidence of the international community in recent months, notably by holding back democratic transition and by intensifying military cooperation with Moscow," Baerbock said in a statement before her departure.

Germany has around 1,100 soldiers deployed as part of the UN peacekeeping mission in Mali, known as MINUSMA.

The European state has also contributed some 300 troops to the EU military training mission in Mali.

Massacre prompts EU military training suspension

Human Rights Watch has said Malian soldiers and foreign fighters executed 300 civilians between March 27 and 31 in Moura.

German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht visited German troops stationed in Mali at the weekend and spoke of "atrocities" in Moura.

Borrell called the Moura operation a "massacre" and said: "We cannot collaborate with reprehensible events... We cannot be training people who are responsible for those kinds of behaviours. So the military training for troops, we're going to stop."

He said the EU ministers discussed hopes that west Africa's regional bloc ECOWAS would reach agreement with Mali's junta for "an acceptable election" to be held for a return to civilian rule.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP and REUTERS)

Originally published on France24