BAMAKO—A cargo plane delivered four helicopters, weapons, and ammunition from Russia to Mali late on Thursday, Malian interim defense minister Sadio Camara said. He said Mali had bought the helicopters in a contract agreed in December 2020 to support its armed forces in their battle alongside French, European, and U.N. troops with insurgents linked to ISIS terrorist group and al Qaeda. “Mali bought these helicopters from the Russia Federation, a friendly country with which Mali has always maintained a very fruitful partnership,” he told local media on the tarmac after the plane landed in the capital Bamako, adding that the weapons and ammunition were given by Russia. The delivery comes at a moment of tense relations between Mali and its key military partner France over reports Bamako could recruit Russian mercenaries as Paris reshapes its 5,000-strong counter-terrorism mission in the region. Diplomatic and security sources have told Reuters that Mali’s …