Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland met with the some of the leaders of the military junta in Niger Monday, she told reporters on a call.
Nuland met with Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou, the self-proclaimed chief of defense, and three colonels supporting him for more than two hours for "extremely frank and at times quite difficult" conversations, she said.
Nuland noted that Barmou had worked with US special forces in Niger for many years and therefore she was able to describe "in considerable detail" the risks to that cooperation.
"I hope they will keep the door open to diplomacy. We made that proposal," Nuland said. "Their ideas do not comport with the Constitution. And that would be difficult in terms of our relationship if that's the path they take, but we gave them a number of options to keep talking and we hope they take us up on that."
Nuland's request to see detained President Mohamed Bazoum was denied. She also was not able to see the self-proclaimed leader, General Abdourahmane Tiani, "so we were left to have to depend on Mr. Barmou to make clear again what is at stake."
