Prigozhin dismisses US charges North Korea supplies weapons to PMC Wagner Group
Yevgeny Prigozhin also said that the PMC Wagner Group was purchasing "quite a lot" of US weapons, so his lawyers would be pressing for the lifting of restrictions on US weapons supplies to PMCs
MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin has dismissed as far-fetched speculations the US National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby’s claims the PMC Wagner Group was receiving weapons supplies from Pyongyang.
"Regrettably, Mr. Kirby makes quite a few statements based on far-fetched speculations. Everyone knows that North Korea has not been supplying any weapons to Russia for a long time. No such attempts have been made. The rumored supplies of weapons from the DPRK are nothing but gossip and far-fetched speculations," Prigozhin's company Concord said on its Telegram channel.
Prigozhin also said that the PMC Wagner Group was purchasing "quite a lot" of US weapons, so his lawyers would be pressing for the lifting of restrictions on US weapons supplies to PMCs. "We consider these restrictions as absolutely unfair. The PMC Wagner Group has never violated international trade rules when purchasing US-made weapons," Prigozhin wrote.
Earlier, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry dismissed claims by the US and some media outlets the country was supplying weapons to Russia.
On Thursday, the National Security Council’s Coordinator for Strategic Communications, John Kirby, claimed that the DPRK had supplied weapons to the PMC Wagner Group and was planning more deliveries. At the same time, the UN Secretary-General’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, said that the UN had no evidence of rumored supplies of weapons to the PMC Wagner Group from the DPRK.