Blinken: Russian group not welcome

DAKAR, SENEGAL >> U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday warned a shadowy Russian company with connections to the Kremlin not to interfere in efforts aimed at restoring democracy in the West African nation of Mali.

As he wrapped up a weeklong, three-nation tour of Africa that was dominated by crises across the continent, Blinken said it would be “unfortunate” if the Wagner Group became active in Mali, where there are internationally backed plans to have a democratically elected government in place by April.

Mali “remains a linchpin for future stability in the Sahel, and we have deep concerns about that stability and deep concerns about the extremism and terrorism that is spreading tentacles in the region,” Blinken said at news conference with Senegal’s foreign minister, Aissata Tall Sall. West Africa’s Sahel region is the vast area south of the Sahara Desert where extremist groups are fighting for control.

“It would be especially unfortunate if outside actors engage in making things even more difficult and more complicated,” he said. Blinken said he was speaking particularly of the Wagner Group, which has deployed mercenaries to Syria, the Central African Republic and Libya, drawing protests from the West and others.

The Wagner Group, owned by a confidant of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been accused by Western governments and U.N. experts of human rights abuses in the Central African Republic and involvement in the conflict in Libya.

France and Germany have objected to the presence of Wagner mercenaries in Mali, and the European Union said this past week that it would consider sanctions against anyone interfering in Mali’s democratic transition.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said the company has a “legitimate” right to be in Mali because it was invited by the transitional government, and he has insisted the Russian government is not involved.