Burkina Faso’s President, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, arrived in Moscow on Thursday, May 8, 2025, for an official visit featuring high-level meetings and commemorative events. He is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, May 10.
According to a statement from the Burkinabè presidency, Traoré will take part in the May 9 celebrations marking the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945). On the sidelines of the commemorations, he is also expected to meet with citizens from Sahel States Alliance (AES) countries currently living in the Russian Federation.
This meeting with President Putin was confirmed earlier in April by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who described it as a key moment in the Victory Day celebrations held annually on May 9. “We are grateful to President Ibrahim Traoré for accepting President Vladimir Putin’s invitation to take part in the 80th anniversary of Victory Day,” Lavrov stated.
World War II, known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War, remains a deeply rooted national tragedy. The Soviet Union suffered the heaviest human loss in the conflict, with an estimated 27 million dead—mostly civilians—and years of devastation that followed.
This marks President Traoré’s second official visit to Russia. His first was in July 2023, when he attended the Russia–Africa summit in St. Petersburg.