The armed groups had warned earlier that the withdrawal of the UN's peacekeeping force in the country, Minusma, would deal a "fatal blow" to the northern Mali peace process.

The ex-rebels have previously raised fears over the future of the 2015 peace agreement that officially ended the secessionist insurgency in northern Mali.

“We met today with the ambassador of the Russian Federation to Mali, His Excellency Igor Gromyko. The discussions on a number of topical issues and concerns were very productive and reassuring," Attaye Ag Mohammed said on Twitter.

The recent mutiny in Russia by the Wagner group, which has deployed thousands of mercenaries to Mali since 2022, has highlighted doubts about the Malian army's capacity to cope with militant violence on its own as the UN withdraws.

The status of Wagner fighters in the country remains unresolved.