Foreign Ministers of the Russian Federation and France Sergey Lavrov and Jean-Yves Le Drian met on September 23 on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. According to the French Foreign Ministry, Mr. Le Drian warned the Russian minister about the consequences of the intervention of the private military company (PMC) Wagner in the situation in Mali.
“As for Mali, the minister warned his Russian counterpart about the serious consequences of the Wagner group’s interference in the affairs of this country,” the statement on the website of the French Foreign Ministry said (translated by Interfax). In the message of the Russian side, the discussion of the situation in Mali is not mentioned.
The ministers also discussed the situation in Afghanistan, Libya, as well as the situation regarding the Iranian nuclear program, according to reports from both sides. The Russian Foreign Ministry separately notes that the representatives of the countries expressed “a mutual disposition for further work in stabilizing the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.” The French Foreign Ministry reports that the heads of ministries discussed Ukraine.
Earlier, Reuters and AFP, citing sources, reported that the Mali junta, which came to power after the coup in May 2021, expressed interest in hiring Wagner PMCs to train the military and protect high-ranking officials. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, reported that the appearance mercenaries in a country can seriously affect the EU’s relations with it.
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