Antony Blinken: “Wagner shall cause devastation and exploitation due to instability in Niger”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned in an interview published Tuesday that Wagner was taking advantage of the instability caused by the coup in Niger, as the group of Russian mercenaries form closer ties with neighboring country Mali.
The US secretary of state told the BBC he did not believe Wagner – who launched a failed uprising against Moscow in June – was behind the coup that toppled President-elect Mohamed Bazoum.
“I think what happened and what continues to happen in Niger was not staged by Russia or Wagner,” Blinken said. “But to the extent that they take advantage of it – and this is a repeat of what has happened in other countries where they have brought nothing but evil – that is not a good thing,” he said
He added: “Where Wagner go: death, devastation and exploitation follows, he said.
Spoke to Nigerien President Bazoum to express our continued efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the current constitutional crisis. The United States reiterates our call for the immediate release of him and his family.
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) August 9, 2023
In Africa, Wagner offers a portfolio of services for troubled plans. Whiles in Burkina Faso, Mali, it defends Junta’s in place, does military training, even gives legal advice to rewrite mining code or the Constitution.
In return, the group engages in looting and pays for itself from local resources, including gold and other mineral deposits.
”Russian influence may spread throughout the entire central Sahel region via the Wagner group whose brutal terrorism has been clearly exposed in Ukraine,” President-elect Mohamed Bazoum wrote in an editorial published on Thursday in the Washington Post.
From the capital Niamey, Antony Blinken’s deputy stated yesterday that “the people who made this decision (of the coup) understand very well the risks to their sovereignty posed by the invitation from Wagner”.
