Sec. 103. Strategy to counter Russian influence in Libya
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Congress makes the following findings: In January 2020, General Stephen Townsend, Commander of AFRICOM, warned that in Libya, Russia seeks to demonstrate itself as an alternative partner to the West and seeks to position itself alongside the southern flank of NATO. On May 29, 2020, AFRICOM assessed that Russia deployed 14 military aircraft to Libya to support Russian state-sponsored private military contractors there. On June 18, 2020, AFRICOM Director of Operations Brigadier General Bradford Gering stated that Russia continues to push for a strategic foothold on NATO’s southern flank … at the expense of innocent Libya lives .
In January 2021, United States officials told the international press that mercenaries affiliated with the Wagner Group were constructing sophisticated defensive fortifications in central Libya. Not later than 90 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on— an assessment of Russian influence and objectives in Libya; the potential threat such influence poses to the United States, southern Europe, and NATO operations in the Mediterranean Sea;
Russia’s use of currency issuing and printing; Russia’s use of mercenaries, military contractors, and paramilitary forces in Libya; and an assessment of the sanctions and other policies adopted by United States partners and allies against the Wagner Group and its destabilizing activities in Libya. Not later than 30 days after the date on which the report required by paragraph
(1)is submitted to the appropriate congressional committees, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense shall brief the appropriate congressional committees regarding a strategy to counter threats identified in the report. The report required by paragraph
(1)shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain a classified annex. In this subsection, the term appropriate congressional committees means— the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Relations, the Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate; and the Committee on Armed Services, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives.