Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed today, Thursday, that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian private military group Wagner, is no longer present in his country. Lukashenko had mediated last month in an agreement to end an armed rebellion in Russia. On June 27, Lukashenko stated that Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus as part of the agreement that ended the crisis. However, Lukashenko assured journalists today that "Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg. He is not on Belarusian territory." He clarified, "Wagner group fighters are in their camps... their permanent camps... which they had set up since leaving the front."
Lukashenko added that Russian security services are supposed to be monitoring him closely. He mentioned that "an offer for the Wagner group to transfer some of its fighters to Belarus is still on the table, which has raised concerns among neighboring NATO member states." He continued that he does not see this as a threat to his country, stating he does not believe that Wagner fighters would bear arms against Belarus. He described that "some in the Kremlin wanted to eliminate Prigozhin during the rebellion, but it would have caused a civil war," adding, "If you think Putin is so evil and vengeful that he would 'deal with him' tomorrow, let’s say it in Russian: no, that won't happen."
Lukashenko stated, "We, Putin and I, allowed the situation to get out of control. We thought everything would go in the right direction automatically, but that didn’t happen." He indicated that he had told Prigozhin that "Putin and I will defend Moscow." He clarified that the question of transferring Wagner units to Belarus depends on decisions from the Kremlin and Wagner, confirming that he spoke to Prigozhin on the phone yesterday, Wednesday.
The Belarusian president affirmed that "Putin keeps his promises." He indicated that Prigozhin intends to continue working with Wagner for the benefit of Russia, emphasizing that the forces of the private military group could atone for their sins by fighting in the most challenging areas on the Ukrainian front.
