US accuses Wagner Group of “exploiting natural resources” in Africa to fund Russia’s “war machine”

The United States has accused mercenaries from the Wagner Group, owned by a Russian businessman linked to the country’s president, Vladimir Putin, of “exploiting natural resources” in Africa to finance Russia’s “war machine” in Ukraine and other countries around the world.

“One of the most immediate and growing concerns in Africa is the Kremlin-backed Wagner Group’s strategy to exploit natural resources in Central African Republic (CAR), Mali and Sudan, as well as other countries,” said U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

“These actions are thoroughly documented and irrefutable and we know that these illegally obtained assets are used to finance Moscow’s war machine in Africa, the Middle East and Ukraine,” she said during a UN Security Council meeting on the financing of armed groups through illicit trafficking of natural resources.

Thus, Thomas-Greenfield has stressed that “instead of being a transparent partner and improving security, the Wagner Group exploit client states that pay for their heavy-handed security services with gold, diamonds, timber and other natural resources.” “It is part of the Wagner Group’s business model,” he has pointed out.

“Let there be no doubt. The people of Africa are paying a high price for the Wagner Group’s exploitative practices and human rights violations,” he said, before calling for “action against those who exploit natural resources and finance armed conflict and terrorism.”

“We need to deal with that power effectively and urgently,” Thomas-Greenfield stressed, stressing that the body’s counter-terrorism committees and other UN agencies “have an essential role to play.”

The U.S. government on Tuesday warned Burkina Faso’s military junta about the “destabilizing impact” of the Wagner Group after the new coup d’état registered last week in the African country, which has been suffering from a serious deterioration of the security situation for years.

“The countries where the group has been deployed are weakened and less secure, which we have seen in a number of cases in Africa,” said U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel, referring to the presence of Russian mercenaries in Mali, Libya and CAR, among other places.