Blinken warns African nations that Russia’s Wagner mercenary group endangers them
- The United States seeks to boost ties in Africa, where China’s influence is strong and many countries maintain cordial relations with Russia
- US Secretary of State says Wagner engages in ‘exploitation of natural resources, bringing corruption with it, bringing violence’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused the Russian mercenary Wagner Group of bringing violence and instability to Africa as he completed a trip intended to reassert US engagement with the continent as Russia and China have heightened their presence.
“Where Wagner’s been present, bad things inevitably follow,” Blinken told a briefing in the Niger capital Niamey on Thursday.
“We’ve seen countries find themselves weaker, poorer, more insecure, less independent as a result of their association with Wagner,” he said. “And we’ve also seen Wagner engage in the exploitation of natural resources, bringing corruption with it, bringing violence with it – overall worsening security, not improving it.”
His comments – intended to deter regional governments from hiring the Russian mercenaries to act as security forces – came at the tail-end of a two-country visit this week. Blinken announced US$150 million in direct assistance to Africa’s Sahel region.
Blinken is the highest-ranking US official ever to visit Niger, which has emerged as a key international partner in the region at a time when anti-French sentiment is on the rise in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso.