Emmanuel Thomas I Wednesday, August 09, 2023
WASHINGTON – The United States has said that the palace coup that took place in Niger that toppled the democratically elected government of Mohamed Bazuom was neither instigated by Russia nor the Wagner Group.
Secretary of State, Antony Blinken made the clarifications while speaking on BBC Focus. He however said that though they did not instigate it but that the fact that they are taking advantage of the coup is concerning.
“I think what happened and what continues to happen in Niger was not instigated by Russia or by Wagner, but to the extent that they try to take advantage of it – and we see a repeat of what’s happened in other countries, where they’ve brought nothing but bad things in their wake – that wouldn’t be good”, he said.
He said the U.S. is concerned each time they see something like the Wagner Group possibly manifesting itself in different parts of the Sahel.
“And here’s why we’re concerned: because every single place that this group, Wagner Group, has gone, death, destruction, and exploitation have followed. Insecurity has gone up, not down. It hasn’t been a response to the needs of the countries in question for greater security”, he said.
Blinken said there are about 250 million people around the world who are acutely food insecure, adding that the biggest drivers have been climate change, for a while COVID and now increasingly conflict, including Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and at the same time, we see Russia, as I’ve said, taking advantage of some of these conflicts and weaponizing food to try to advance its own interests.
He explained that contrary to the position of Russia that only three percent of the botched Black Sea Grain Initiative reached Africa, he said more than 50 percent of the grains was going to developing countries, including many in Africa; two-thirds of the wheat going to developing countries, including countries in Africa.
He said what is important now is resolving this situation and that is Russia getting back into the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which he said would be the quickest thing anyone could do to actually effectively address food insecurity.
“There is so much more that we need to do and we are doing to address it in a comprehensive way and a sustainable way. Since the Russian aggression, just going back a year and a half, the United States has provided about $15.5 billion to global food security. We are by far the largest donor to the World Food Programme. We provide 50 percent of its budget; Russia, by the way, provides less than 1 percent of its budget.
“We’re also very focused on how we make sure that we are giving countries the capacity to produce food themselves on a sustainable basis. When I met a year ago with many foreign ministers from African countries on the margins of a special summit we convened on food security at the United Nations, what I heard from my colleagues was yes, we appreciate the emergency assistance, but even more we’re looking for sustainable productive capacity at home.
“That’s what the United States is focused on. We’re trying to make sure that countries develop the means to produce food for themselves and, for that matter, for their neighbours.
He said there is now a new deal on the table by the UN to address concerns raised by Russia in the botched Black Sea Grain Initiative.
“What I’m saying is there is now a proposal on the table from the United Nations to Russia to address what it purports to be its concerns. We support that UN initiative. To my knowledge, Russia has not responded to what the UN has proposed, but we support it”, Blinken said.
