U.S. Says Russian Mercenaries In Ukraine Seeking To Source Weapons Through Mali

Washington D.C./23.05.23/Turan:  The United States is closely watching efforts by Russia's Wagner group to source weapons through Mali for use against Ukraine, the State Department said on Monday, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

While Washingron hasn't seen any indication that Wagner was successful in receiving military material, it's “monitoring the situation closely," as Matthew Miller, State Department's new spokesperson, put it.

“We have sanctioned a number of entities and individuals across a number of continents that support Wagner’s military operations and we will have more to share on this question soon,” Miller told a daily press briefing.

The Biden administration designated Wagner as a Transnational Criminal Organization early this year as part of efforts to identify and cut off parts of its global support network. The U.S. Congress, however, has been calling on the administration to designate Wager as a foreign terrorist organization.

Asked by TURAN whether Washington was still considering designating Russia as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, Miller said, "we don’t believe that that’s the most effective mechanism for holding Russia accountable, and that, in fact, doing so could have counterproductive side effects in our ability to deliver humanitarian aid to the region."

In the meantime, he added, Washington has continued to hold Russia accountable "through a number of other steps."

"Those started even before Russia invaded Ukraine with our delivery of weapons to Ukraine. It’s continued with the sanctions and export controls that we have imposed and that our allies and partners have imposed on Russia," he explained.

"And I think most significantly, it’s continued with the weapon systems that we have delivered to Ukraine; and as I said in my opening remarks, further weapon systems that we announced even in the last few days," the spokesperson added.

Alex Raufoglu