The military regimes in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger on Sunday announced their immediate withdrawal from the West African bloc ECOWAS, saying it has become a threat to member states.

'Down with ECOWAS' says a placard at a January 2022 protest in Bamako against sanctions imposed on Mali by the West African bloc.

The leaders of the three Sahel nations issued a statement saying it was a "sovereign decision" to leave the Economic Community of West African States "without delay".

Struggling with jihadist violence and poverty, the regimes have had tense ties with ECOWAS since coups took place in Niger last July, Burkina Faso in 2022 and Mali in 2020.

ECOWAS said in a statement on Sunday that it "remains committed to finding a negotiated solution to the political impasse" with all three countries.

It said it had yet to receive any direct formal notification of the withdrawal of the three states.

All three -- founding members of the bloc in 1975 -- were suspended from ECOWAS with Niger and Mali facing heavy sanctions as the bloc tried to push for the early return of civilian governments through elections.

The sanctions were an "irrational and unacceptable posture" at a time when the three "have decided to take their destiny in hand", the three countries said -- a reference to the coups that removed civilian administrations.

The three nations have hardened their positions in recent months and joined forces in an "Alliance of Sahel States".

The leaders' joint statement added that the 15-member ECOWAS, "under the influence of foreign powers, betraying its founding principles, has become a threat to member states and peoples".

They accused the grouping of failing to help them tackle the jihadists who swept into Mali from 2012 and then on to Burkina and Niger.

But leaving ECOWAS could make trade more difficult for the three land-locked nations, making goods more expensive, and could also see visa requirements re-imposed for travel.

Under pressure from the military regimes, former colonial power France has removed ambassadors and troops and watched Russia fill the void militarily and politically.

The French army's withdrawal from the Sahel -- the region along the Sahara desert across Africa -- has heightened concerns over the conflicts spreading southward to Gulf of Guinea states Ghana, Togo, Benin and Ivory Coast.

- 'Bad faith' -

The prime minister appointed by Niger's regime on Thursday blasted ECOWAS for "bad faith" after the bloc largely shunned a planned meeting in Niamey. ECOWAS blamed an aircraft technical fault in Abuja for the cancellation of its mission to Niger.

Niger had hoped for an opportunity to talk through differences with fellow states of ECOWAS, which has cold-shouldered Niamey following the military coup that overthrew elected president Mohamed Bazoum.

Niger's military leaders, wrestling with high food prices and a scarcity of medicines, have said they want up to three years for a transition back to civilian rule.

In Mali, the ruling officers under Colonel Assimi Goita had pledged to hold elections in February this year, but that has now been pushed back to an unknown date.

Burkina Faso, which has not been put under sanctions although Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in September 2022, has set elections for this summer, but says the fight against the insurgents remains the top priority.

Burkina Faso thanks Russia for 'priceless gift' of wheat.

It is the latest overture from the isolated European power.

Burkina Faso says it has received 25,000 tonnes of free wheat from Russia.

Confirming the news on Friday, one minister called the delivery a "priceless gift".

Ties between Moscow and Ouagadougou have been strengthening since the military took power in two successive coups in 2022.

Last month Russia re-opened its embassy in Burkina Faso, which been closed since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Burkina Faso has at the same time been distancing itself from former colonial power France, and last year it ordered its troops to leave.

Burkina Faso is one of the world's most-neglected crises, humanitarians say.

About a quarter of all children under five have stunted growth, according to UN data, and more than three million people face acute food shortages.

The West African nation is battling a years-long Islamist insurgency that has forced more than two million people from their homes. One in four schools are closed because it is too dangerous for children to risk going.

So severe is Burkina Faso's security crisis that some citizens welcomed the military coups two years ago, and hoped for an end to the violence and upheaval.

Yet the military junta has failed to deliver on its early promises to tackle Islamist militants, and the latter still control large swathes of the country.

It was during a summit in St Petersburg last year that President Vladimir Putin promised to send Burkina Faso a gift of thousands of tonnes of wheat.

Russia is one of the world's biggest grain producers, and is projected to export about 45 millions tonnes of wheat this financial year, according to US estimates.

The isolated European power, condemned by much of the international community for waging war in Ukraine, is seeking to deepen alliances in Africa and elsewhere.

Speaking at a ceremony on Friday, Burkina Faso's Foreign Minister Karamoko Jean Marie Traoré said the wheat consignment from Russia would help to push his nation towards "developing our own production capacity in order to halt once and for all dependence on food from abroad".

Nandy Some Diallo, Burkina Faso's minister for solidarity and humanitarian action, said the government was "delighted" and called the grain delivery a "priceless gift" that would benefit people who were internally displaced and vulnerable.

Earlier this week, there were reports that a contingent of Russian troops had arrived in Burkina Faso.

Last summer, Burkina Faso signed a deal with Russia in July for the construction of a nuclear power plant to increase its energy supply. Less than a quarter of the country's population has access to electricity.

In addition to Russian influence in matters of economics, diplomacy and defence - there has also been a rise in recent months of Russian-sponsored disinformation.

Russia has consistently denied such allegations in the past.

Burkina Faso, which is rich in gold and other minerals, has denied reports it paid Russian mercenary fighters by giving them rights to mines in the country.