MOSCOW, January 20. /TASS/. The founder of the Wagner private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, called the Americans "colleagues" after the US announced its intentions to impose sanctions against the group designated as "a transnational criminal organization".

"At last, now the Wagner PMC and the Americans are colleagues. Our relationship from now on can be called "a showdown of criminal clans," Prigozhin said in a comment published on the Telegram channel of his press service on Friday.

The US will designate Russia’s Wagner private military company as a transnational criminal organization and will impose additional sanctions against it next week, US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told a briefing earlier on Friday.

"First, the Department of Treasury will be designating Wagner as a significant transnational criminal organization under Executive Order 13581 as amended. In coordination with this designation we will also impose additional sanctions next week against Wagner and its support network across multiple continents," the White House national security spokesperson said.