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African countries themselves to determine future of agreements with Wagner PMC — Lavrov

The foreign minister emphasized that the presence of Wagner PMC in the Central African Republic and a number of other African countries was directly regulated by the contracts between the governments of the respective countries and Wagner

MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/. The future of African countries’ agreements with the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) depends on whether the respective governments are interested in pursuing such cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told an online briefing on Friday.

"As for the future of agreements between African nations and Wagner PMC, it is up to the governments of the respective countries to decide how interested they are in maintaining this form of cooperation to ensure the security of government institutions," the top diplomat pointed out.

Lavrov emphasized that the presence of Wagner PMC in the Central African Republic (CAR) and a number of other African countries was directly regulated by the contracts between the governments of the respective countries and Wagner.

Lavrov also noted that several hundred instructors from the Russian Defense Ministry had long been working in the CAR. "There is a governmental agreement based on which they are working there, providing assistance to the Central African Republic’s army in training military officers," the Russian foreign minister said. He added that the CAR president and government highly appreciated the work of the Russian military training mission.

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