Continue fighting in Ukraine under the leadership of Russian commander Andrey Troshev. This was the offer made by Russian President Vladimir Putin to the head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and his fighters. Proposal that would have been partially accepted by the militiamen, but blocked by Prigozhin. At that point, there were no other ways for Moscow to keep the militia active in the country. “We do not have a law for private military organizations”, Putin underlined, therefore, juridically, “Wagner does not exist”. The absence is also perceived on the battlefield: the Pentagon has pointed out that the Wagner group is not hiring “no significant role” in the “combat operations” in Ukraine. The militiamen are engaged in Belarus to act as instructors to the soldiers of Minsk, the Belarusian Defense Ministry has announced that “the training sessions with the units of the territorial troops are they keep near Osipovichi”. A place where, according to information circulated on Wagner’s social channels, their boss Prigozhin would also be, or at least would have been. In a photo released on the web, he can be seen in his underwear inside a camp tent.”Suppose this photo was taken on July 12 at 7.24 am, and in this case Yevgeny Prigozhin really was in the Belarusian camp near Osipovichi, or rather, spent the night there,” the monitoring group said. Belarusian Gayun’.
Meanwhile, there is a question and answer between Ankara and Moscow on the wheat agreement, which expires on July 17th. To Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said that “Russia and Turkey are on the same wavelength as regards the extension of the agreement on cereals”, the Kremlin replied curtly that “there have been no statements on this point from the Russian side”. The extension of the agreement, which allows Ukraine to safely export its cereals through the Black Sea, risks leaving the African continent without basic necessities. “We hope that common sense will prevail in Moscow and that it will be understood that the African populations have nothing to do with the confrontation in Eastern Europe”, said Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, reiterating the support of the Italy to Turkish mediation.
Africa is also a land of tensions for the expected Brics summit to be held in South Africa in August. Vice-President Paul Mashatile said in an interview with the South African weekly Mail&Guardian that the authorities have expressly requested that Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend the meeting instead of President Vladimir Putin, who has an international arrest warrant pending. “We understand that we are bound by the Rome Statute, but we cannot invite someone and then arrest them,” said Mashatile, “you can understand our dilemma. We would be happy if they didn’t come.” The request was expressed in person by President Cyril Ramaphosa, but the Kremlin has not yet taken a decision on the matter.
