U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned against Russia's Wagner mercenaries taking advantage of instability in Niger. In an interview with the BBC released on August 8, Blinken doubted that Wagner plotted the Nigerien military's ouster of President Mohamed Bazoum. The events in Niger were "not instigated by Russia or by Wagner," Blinken said. "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.
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