During yesterday’s U.N. Security Council meeting, the United States accused the infamous Russian PMC Wagner Group of exploiting natural resources from African countries to help aid Russia in its war in Ukraine. The main countries pointed out were the Central African Republic, Mali, and Sudan.
The American ambassador to the U.N. went on to say, “rather than being a transparent partner and improving security, Wagner exploits client states who pay for their heavy-handed security services in gold, diamond, timber, and other natural resources. This is part of Wagner Group’s business model.”
Vasily Nebenzya, the Russian representative to the U.N. responded by saying, “I would like to express our regret that the United States in their anti-Russian rage, have reached the point where in their statement, put the issue to the forefront of Russian support to its African partners. This exposes their real plans and aims. What they really need from African countries. We are surprised by the words of the U.S. representative when she is talking about ‘client states’. That is American terminology. We do not use that. For us, the African countries are not clients. They are partners. I’d like to recall here, by the way, that in Syria the United States under the cover of counter terrorism, are stealing Syrian oil. Before an untrustworthy company was appointed for that. Then when the situation seemed too scandalous, even to its allies, the United States returned to stealing Syrian national resources, using their own military.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Wagner Group and its role in Russian foreign policy have come into the limelight. Before this year, the general public did not even know of Wagner Group’s existence. But now they are being openly discussed more and more in U.S. media.
