Mali's government has denied any deployment of Russian mercenaries from the Vagner group following charges earlier this week by more than a dozen European countries as well as Canada.
Bamako "gives a formal denial to these baseless allegations" of "an alleged deployment of elements from a private security company in Mali," the government said in a statement on December 24.
Over a dozen Western countries on December 23 strongly condemned the deployment in Mali of Russian mercenaries working for the Vagner group, accusing Moscow of providing material backing for the fighters.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the Vagner Group does not represent the Russian state and is not paid by it. He has also said private military contractors have the right to work and pursue their interests anywhere in the world as long as they do not break Russian law.
The countries, who included, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, called on Russia to "revert to a responsible and constructive behavior in the region."
"This deployment can only further deteriorate the security situation in West Africa, lead to an aggravation of the human rights situation in Mali," the world powers said.
Their statement said the powers "deeply regret" the choice of the Malian authorities to use "already scarce public funds" to pay foreign mercenaries instead of supporting the Malian armed forces.
Washington was not a signatory of the statement but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month warned Mali not to accept Vagner mercenaries, saying a deal would further destabilize the country.
Mali's government said on December 23 that "Russian trainers" were in the country as part of efforts to strengthen the operational capacity of the national security forces.
Mali has experienced sustained political instability since 2012. A military transitional government took power in May.
