MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. The statement by the US State Department that the private military company Wagner sought to buy weapons in Mali to use them in Ukraine is false, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

"That statement is equivalent to saying they (Wagner PMC - TASS) buy weapons from a US private military company," she said at a news conference. "You see, there’s nothing here to comment on. The State Department, instead of these false statements, needs to deal with a very specific issue related to weapons."

According to Zakharova, the weapons that the US supplies to Ukraine under the pretext of assistance, "in fact, have long been wandering not only around the European continent and surfacing in EU countries, but have already crossed over to other continents."

"The US State Department should be held to account about how aware the United States is of the spread of these weapons around the world. <...> How can they comment on this? Do they feel responsible for it?" the spokeswoman said.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller on Monday alleged at a news conference that the Wagner private military company is seeking to get supplies of weapons through Mali so that they can use them in the special military operation. He stated that the US had received information in the last few days that the Wagner PMC was trying to source weapons through Mali and trying to use fake documents for these transactions. The spokesman said that at the time of the news conference the US had no confirmation that these arms shipments had been agreed or completed.