Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dimitro Kuleba on Tuesday urged his partners in the international community to «immediately» recognize the Russian mercenary group Wagner as a terrorist organization for its role in various conflicts around the world.
Kuleba pointed out that it is Ukraine that «suffers the most from Wagner’s criminal activities», so they also endorse the denunciation of several African countries, which have already warned of the «significant threat to their security», after the presence of the group has been confirmed in several countries of the Sahel.
«We must immediately recognize them as a terrorist organization,» Minister Kuleba urged during a briefing on Tuesday. «Not only are they raiding Bajmut and completely destroying a major industrial city, but they have a growing presence in African states,» he denounced.
«Russian mercenaries are helping the military junta in Burkina Faso. In exchange for military aid, Wagner has received permission to exploit gold deposits in the areas bordering Ghana,» he said.
Kuleba said Wagner’s presence in Africa is Russia’s way of «undermining» the continent’s regional instruments to counter jihadism, arguing that after the group’s arrival in Mali, the Malian military junta abandoned the Sahel Five, an initiative to fight terrorism.
«The Russian intervention is delaying the prospects of restoring the constitutional state in Mali and Burkina Faso and destabilizing all of West Africa,» accused Kuleba, for whom Wagner’s strategy is clear: to take advantage of the chaos in the region to plunder its resources and then use the profits to finance the war in Ukraine.
«That is the connection between Wagner’s gold mining in Africa and the hostilities conducted by this terrorist group on Ukrainian territory,» said Kuleba, who also demanded more pressure on African governments that allow the presence of Russian mercenaries in their internal affairs.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
