Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said today, Thursday, that the head of the private Russian Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is no longer in his country.
On June 27, Lukashenko said that Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus as part of the agreement that ended the crisis.
However, Lukashenko told reporters on Thursday, “Speaking of Prigozhin, he is in St. Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus.”
Lukashenko added that an offer by the Wagner Group to transfer some of its fighters to Belarus is still standing, a possibility that has alarmed neighboring NATO members.
He added that he did not see this as a threat to his country, and said that he did not believe that the fighters of the Wagner Group would take up arms against Belarus.
Lukashenko, Putin’s close ally, mediated decisively in resolving the crisis, culminating in an agreement for Prigozhin and his men to move to Belarus.
The agreement that ended the rebellion of Wagner’s mercenaries included allowing them to either integrate into the Russian regular armed forces, or move with their president, Yevgeny Prigozhin, into exile in Belarus, or return to their families.
Lukashenko was also quoted as saying at the time that he had no plans to open any Wagner recruitment centers in Belarus.
(Reuters, The New Arab)
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2023-07-06 09:44:45
