Guterres Hopes Wagner Group Will Not Impede Cooperation Between MINUSMA, Malian Army

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd January, 2022) UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday he hopes that the alleged deployment of private military company Wagner Group in Mali will not obstruct cooperation between the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the country (MINUSMA) and the national armed forces.

"We haven't to date had any meeting with the Wagner group. That is a sovereign decision taken by the Malian government to cooperate with an organization such as that one," Guterres said.

"The only thing that we wish to see is that this involvement doesn't create any difficulty in achieving what we want.

And what we want is effective cooperation between MINUSMA and the Malian army," he added.

MINUSMA was established in 2013 to support the transitional authorities in Mali, stabilize the country and implement the transitional roadmap.

Mali's government has previously denied any deployment of Russian contractors from Wagner Group, calling these allegations "baseless."

Russia has also firmly denied its involvement in paramilitary activities in Africa, saying the presence of Russian instructors in foreign countries is official and done at the request of their governments.