Lavrov: Wagner is present in Mali and Libya on a “commercial basis”

Russia’s Wagner private paramilitary company is present in Mali and Libya on a “commercial basis”, the Russian Foreign Minister said today. Sergei Lavrov.

In an interview with Italian television station Mediaset, Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s position that Wagner “has nothing to do with the Russian state.”

The Wagner company, which is widely known to be close to the president Vladimir Putinis accused of hiring mercenaries who have committed atrocities in Mali, Libya and Syria.

According to the head of the Russian diplomacy, Moscow gave explanations to France on this issue when the French government “got angry because Wagner signed an agreement with the government of Mali for the provision of security services”.

“My dear colleague Jean-Yves Le Drian and (the head of European diplomacy) Josep Borrell, in September 2021, told me directly that Russia had no job in Africa, neither by state nor by private means, “Africa is a region of (interest) of the EU and France,” Lavrov said.

“We also explained ‘that in Libya,’ this private military company was invited by the authorities to Tobruk, where the parliament is located. “They are present there on a commercial basis, as well as in Mali,” the Russian foreign minister assured.

The Bamako government that emerged after the military coup, for its part, speaks of the presence in its territory of ordinary Russian advisers.

Between 10,000 and 20,000 mercenaries of the Russian paramilitary Wagner or Syrian and Libyan fighters are currently fighting on the side of Russian forces in Ukraine, according to a European official.

For the Wagner company you can read in its detailed topic Newsbeast here