Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East called on European countries to impose sanctions against Wagner PMCs for the situation in Libya

The assistant to the US Secretary of State for the Middle East David Schengker, on Tuesday, came up with the statement that the military intervention of Russia threatens Libya's stability and destabilizes the situation in the North African country. Wagner accused the Russian regular troops and fighters of the private military company Wagner of destabilizing the situation, urging other countries to impose sanctions against mercenaries.

"The United States is committed to [ensuring] a calm and prosperous future for the inhabitants of Libya. To make it a reality, we need real obligations from external actors to stop the incitement of violence. In particular, the military intervention of Russia threatens the world, security and stability," Schanker said at a briefing for journalists, the transcript of which is published on the website of the State Department.

Wagner, who support the Libyan National Army, accused the Russian regular troops and fighters of the Libyan National Army for destabilizing the situation. The assistant to the Secretary of State urged other countries to impose sanctions against the company. "This would say that they are also concerned about it," he explained. American sanctions on Wagner PMC have been operating since 2017.

In early October, it was reported that several dozen Russian mercenaries died during an air raid in Libya, where a civil war has been going on since 2011. The media managed to find out the names of several dead-Artem Nevyantsev with the call sign "Hulk", Ignat Borichev ("Benya") and Denis with the call sign "Vector" (surname unknown) from the village of Kushchevskaya, as well as the 27-year-old Gleb Zvevs from Yoshkar-Ola.

In addition, during the fighting, the commander of the PMC Wagner, Alexander Kuznetsov , who was captured in the photograph with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a reception in the Kremlin in December 2016, was also seriously wounded, when he and Wagner PMCs presented state awards.

Fighting in Libya has been going on for several years, but officially Russia has not been participating in them.

Earlier, Bloomberg reported that in early September, more than a hundred more fighters of the Wagner PMC arrived in Libya to support the Libyan National Army (LNA), General Caliph Haftar, who besieged the capital of the Republic of Tripoli. The city itself is controlled by the Government of National Consent recognized by international community. He is supported by a Western coalition led by the United States and Türkiye.

In early March of this year, the British newspaper The Telegraph reported that the number of mercenaries of the Wagner PMC in Libya was at that time about 300 people.