Kyiv's new embassy in the country's capital Nouakchott, among eight it has opened in Africa since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, has overseen food aid deliveries to refugees from neighbouring Mali, embassy and aid officials say.

Kyiv is also offering to train Mauritanian soldiers, Ukraine's top envoy to Africa told Reuters, amid tension between Mauritania and Mali, where Moscow backs government forces against Tuareg rebels.

Moscow's soldiers and mercenaries guard Presidents in several West and Central African countries, while Russian mining companies are entrenched in the Sahel region that includes Mali.

Russia's military presence in the Sahel "undermined stability", the Envoy, Maksym Subkh said in an interview in Kyiv.

"Ukraine is ready to continue training officers and representatives of the Mauritanian armed forces, to share the technologies and achievements that Ukraine has made" on the battlefield against Russia, Subkh said, adding that Ukraine had previously provided such training prior to Russia's invasion.

The Mauritanian government did not respond to a request for comment about Ukraine's offer of more training. Russia's embassy in Mauritania did not respond to a request for comment.

--Reuters--