The Kremlin has indicated that U.S. plans to designate as a «transnational criminal organization» the Wagner Group, owned by an oligarch close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, has «no practical significance» for Moscow or the group.
«I don’t think that, in terms of its implementation, it has practical significance for our country, much less for the Wagner Group,» Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, as quoted by Russia’s Interfax news agency.
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby revealed on Friday that the Treasury Department will designate the Wagner Group as a «transnational criminal organization» and said Washington will impose new sanctions against the organization this week.
In the aftermath, Wagner Group founder Yevgeni Prigozhin asked the U.S. for explanations for the decision, before joking that its presence on a criminal list makes the group a «colleague» of Washington. «From now on, our relationship can be called a ‘clash of criminal clans,'» he quipped ironically.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
