section_path: Response
section_name: Response
paragraph_text: Response
  
  The coup has been condemned by the international community.
  
  The United Nations, through its MINUSMA peacekeeping mission, quickly condemned the coup and called for calm across the nation. António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, called for calm and the release of the prisoners. Félix Tshisekedi, the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and head of the African Union, "strongly condemned any action that aims to destabilise Mali". French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian also condemned the coup, saying "France condemns with the greatest firmness the violent act that occurred in Mali yesterday."
  
  In addition, the United Nations, ECOWAS, the European Union, the United States, and the African Union issued a joint statement condemning the coup and called for the release of the arrested politicians. West African officials described it as an "attempted coup". The European Union and the U.S. State Department threatened sanctions.
  
  On 31 May, ECOWAS suspended Mali, effective immediately until the end of February 2022, when Goïta promised to hand control of the country to a democratically-elected government. Although the bloc called on Goïta to appoint a new civilian prime minister and to form an "inclusive" government, it did not impose sanctions on Mali, as it had done after the 2020 coup. Additionally, on 2 June, the African Union suspended Mali, effective immediately until the country could reestablish "normal constitutional order," and urged the military to refrain from interfering with the Malian political process. According to its statement, if Mali did not return power back to civilian leaders, the Peace and Security Council would impose targeted sanctions and other punitive measures. On that same day, France suspended joint operations with the Malian military, as well as national advisory missions. The French Ministry of Armed Forces said that "the decision will be reassessed in the coming days." After consultations with the Malian military and neighboring countries in the Sahel region, France resumed joint military operations and national advisory missions in Mali on 3 July.
  
  On 7 January 2022, Agence France Presse reported that Malian army officials claimed that Russian military advisors had arrived in the country – with about 400 Russian military personnel operating in Sahel state.