Niamey: In response to calls for a peaceful resolution from Russia and the United States, the junta in Niger said on Tuesday that it was open to talks to end the regional crisis brought on by the military coup last month.

President Mohamed Bazoum, who was detained since July 26, has been called back into office by democratic African governments and Western powers, but the military leaders have rejected all attempts at negotiation.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the main regional bloc, has threatened to launch a military intervention if diplomacy fails, so West African army chiefs will gather on Thursday and Friday in Ghana to prepare.

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Any military action could further destabilise the impoverished Sahel, where a jihadist insurgency by the Islamic State and Al-Qaeda has driven millions of people from their homes over the past ten years and sparked a hunger crisis.

We're going through a transition right now. The military appointed Ali Mahamane Lamine Zeine as prime minister last week. "We have explained the ins and outs, reaffirmed our willingness to remain open and to talk to all parties, but we have insisted on the need for the country to be independent," he said.

He spoke after visiting Mahamat Deby, the president of Chad, who led his own coup in 2021. It is the seventh coup in West and Central Africa in the last three years.

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International powers with strategic vested interests in the region have been drawn in by the coup and its aftermath.

Tuesday's conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Mali's military chief regarding the recent coup in neighbouring Niger is likely to worry Western governments who worry about a rise in Russian influence in the Sahel region of West Africa.

Putin "stressed the importance of a peaceful resolution of the situation for a more stable Sahel," interim president of Mali Assimi Goita said on social media website X, formerly known as Twitter.

The administration of US President Joe Biden, according to Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh, is committed to a diplomatic solution and views Niger as a partner it cannot afford to lose.

Although Singh refrained from using the word "coup," he did say that it "certainly looks like an attempted coup."

According to Nigerian President and ECOWAS Chairman Bola Tinubu, ECOWAS is working with the regional group ECCAS in Central Africa to undo the coup in Niger and restore constitutional order.

"I comprehend our people's apprehension about any kind of military action. In a statement, he said, "We are working to keep the sanctions in place and we are adhering to them strictly.

Since a series of coups began, Russian influence in West Africa has increased while the West's has decreased. Military leaders in Mali and Burkina Faso expelled French troops and forged closer ties with Moscow.

The army government in Mali also hired Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group, who have been charged with killing civilians and other serious human rights violations.

Niger remained a Western ally under Bazoum. In accordance with agreements made with the now-deposed civilian government, the US, France, Germany, and Italy all have troops stationed there.

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Putin has called for the restoration of constitutional law in Niger, and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of Wagner, has welcomed the army takeover and offered his assistance.

Since the coup, there seems to have been a rise in support for Russia in Niger, as evidenced by the junta supporters waving Russian flags at rallies and urging France to end its involvement.

A number of military agreements with France have been revoked by the coup leaders in Niger, but Paris shrugged this off by asserting that it did not recognise them as legitimate authorities.