WEBVTT

00:00.000 --> 00:02.111
I've had a great day of meetings here

00:02.111 --> 00:04.056
at the U . S . Africa Command with

00:04.056 --> 00:06.278
General Townsend and with the command .

00:06.278 --> 00:08.222
Senior leaders , we had productive

00:08.222 --> 00:10.222
discussions on Afrikaans efforts in

00:10.222 --> 00:12.060
Africa and our shared goal of

00:12.060 --> 00:14.410
countering Russia's harmful activities

00:14.420 --> 00:17.230
on the continent . Africom has been a

00:17.230 --> 00:19.341
leader in pointing out Russian malign

00:19.341 --> 00:22.200
activity . Last year , African brought

00:22.200 --> 00:23.978
global attention to the Russian

00:23.978 --> 00:26.380
insertion of advanced air assets into

00:26.380 --> 00:28.660
Libya , a dangerous action that

00:28.670 --> 00:31.170
escalated the conflict and violated U .

00:31.170 --> 00:34.320
N . Sanctions . Africa has also exposed

00:34.320 --> 00:36.320
how the Russian funded Wagner group

00:36.320 --> 00:38.370
have deployed improvised explosive

00:38.370 --> 00:41.870
devices , bombs in areas around Tripoli ,

00:41.880 --> 00:44.170
needlessly endangering the lives of

00:44.180 --> 00:46.800
innocent civilians . The State and

00:46.800 --> 00:48.633
Defense departments are in total

00:48.633 --> 00:51.080
lockstep on countering Russia's harmful

00:51.080 --> 00:53.670
activities in Africa and around the

00:53.670 --> 00:56.740
globe , Africa has become a key target

00:56.750 --> 00:58.710
of Russian misinformation and

00:58.710 --> 01:01.700
disinformation . Together with partners ,

01:01.710 --> 01:04.080
the United States seeks to ensure that

01:04.090 --> 01:06.650
all Africans have access to accurate

01:06.660 --> 01:09.230
and truthful information . And we've

01:09.230 --> 01:11.341
seen the bloody results of the Wagner

01:11.341 --> 01:13.610
group in Africa , not only in Libya ,

01:13.620 --> 01:15.398
but also in the Central African

01:15.398 --> 01:18.480
Republic and elsewhere . We discussed

01:18.480 --> 01:20.258
today how Africom and the State

01:20.258 --> 01:22.410
Department can work together to limit

01:22.410 --> 01:24.299
the impact of the Wagner group in

01:24.299 --> 01:26.390
fueling African conflicts and

01:26.390 --> 01:28.720
discouraging our African partners from

01:28.730 --> 01:30.960
entering into deals with Wagner that

01:30.960 --> 01:33.182
will ultimately hurt their own national

01:33.182 --> 01:33.860
security

