The 16 governments, together with France, the UK, Italy and Germany, mentioned they had been conscious of “the involvement of the Russian Federation authorities in offering materials assist to the deployment of the Wagner group in Mali and name on Russia to revert to a accountable and constructive conduct within the area.”
The European states mentioned the deployment to Mali “can solely additional deteriorate the safety state of affairs in West Africa.
Final week, the European Union imposed sanctions in opposition to Wagner; eight people related to the group; and three entities linked to it due to what it referred to as “critical human rights abuses, together with torture and extrajudicial, abstract or arbitrary executions and killings.”
Mali has confronted a long-running jihadi insurgency which has killed hundreds of civilians. A UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSMA, has been unable to quell the violence, which has price the lives of greater than 150 of its troopers.