The United States has decided to designate Russia’s private military group Wagner as a significant transnational criminal organization, the White House said on Friday, a move that will expand the number of countries and organizations may be prevented from doing business with the company.
John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, told reporters at a news conference: “Our message to any company considering supporting Wagner is simply: Wagner is a criminal organization that is violating human rights on a large scale.
New measures against the company, which is under US sanctions, will take effect next week. Designating Wagner as a transnational criminal organization will freeze company assets in the United States and prohibit Americans from providing money, goods, or services to the group.
Mr. Kirby said that the Wagner, a mercenary force run by a close ally of Russian President Vladimir V. Putin, has established itself as a “rival power center” for the Russian military. .
Wagner’s mercenaries played an important role in the battle in eastern Ukraine and also conducted military operations in Africa.
“Russia is looking for weapons abroad, including through Wagner,” Mr. Kirby said.
Mr. Kirby said that North Korean officials had denied supplying weapons to Wagner, then displayed a photograph showing Russian train carriages traveling between the two countries in November, he said US officials. has forwarded the photos to the United Nations Security Council and he expects additional sanctions will be imposed on the company after the panel considers evidence that UN resolutions have violated.
“While we assess that the amount of material delivered to Wagner does not change the battlefield dynamics in Ukraine, we expect that the country will continue to receive weapons systems from Ukraine,” Mr. North Korea”.
