The US secretary of state has accused the Russian PMC of taking advantage of the instability in Niger
Washington does not believe that Moscow or Evgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group were connected to the military coup in Niger, but is nevertheless concerned the African nation could come under Russian influence, said US state secretary Antony Blinken.
In an interview with the BBC on Tuesday, he admitted that the US is particularly worried about Wagner “possibly manifesting itself” in parts of the Sahel region.
“I think what happened, and what continues to happen in Niger was not instigated by Russia or by Wagner, but… they tried to take advantage of it,” Blinken said.
He went on to accuse the Wagner group of bringing only trouble wherever it went and claimed that “insecurity has gone up, not down” in countries it has visited.
Blinken’s statement comes after media reports suggested that Niger’s new military government had been considering inviting…
