2023-06-25 08:52:23
The announcement made by Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirms reports that Prigozhin accepted a proposal by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to halt the advance of his troops into Russian territory and take de-escalation measures.
It was possible to resolve the situation “without new losses” and “without increasing the level of tension”, he assured at a press briefing in Moscow, noting that an agreement was reached, under from which the paramilitary group will return to its camps.
Asked by journalists what will happen to the members of the paramilitary group, Mr. Peskov noted that those who did not take part in the insurrection will be able to sign “in the future contracts with the Ministry of Defence”, while that the others will not be prosecuted “in view of their service record at the front”.
According to the spokesperson, the Belarusian president’s mediation efforts had the overarching goal of “avoiding bloodshed, avoiding internal confrontations and avoiding clashes with unpredictable results”.
As far as Mr Prigozhin is concerned, the criminal case launched against him will be dropped, Mr Peskov said, adding that the head of the Wagner group “will visit Belarus”.
In a statement, the Belarusian presidency announced that Mr. Lukashenko “in agreement with the President of Russia, spoke with the head of the Wagner group”, specifying that the negotiations resulted in a consensus “on the inadmissibility of unleash a bloody massacre on the territory of Russia”.
On the night of Friday to Saturday, the boss of Wagner went into rebellion with the 25,000 men claimed by his group, after accusing the regular army of having bombarded his troops.
The Russian Ministry of Defense denied these accusations and the General Prosecutor’s Office announced the opening of an investigation for “armed mutiny” against the leader of the Wagner group.
In the morning of Saturday, the boss of Wagner claimed to have taken control of Rostov-on-Don, an important logistics center of the Russian army located 1,200 km south of Moscow.
A few hours later, Wagner columns would have been seen in the Voronezh region, 600 kilometers south of Moscow, then in the neighboring region of Lipetsk, located 420 kilometers from the capital.
In an address to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin called the insurgency led by Prigozhin a “betrayal” and a “stab in the back”.
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