MOSCOW: Mutinous Russian mercenary group Wagner has agreed to turn back to avoid bloodshed, the group leader said on Saturday, in a de-escalation of what had become a main challenge to President Putin’s grip on power. The troops of the Wagner private army run by ex-Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin were already most of the way to Moscow, having taken the city of Rostov and set off on an 1,100 km race to Moscow.
Mutinous Russian mercenary Group Prigozhin to Leave Russia: State Media
In an audio message, Yevgeny Prigozhin asked his fighters to return to base due to the risk of blood being spilled. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s office said that an agreement to stop further movement of Wagner men across Russia in return for guarantees of safety for the rebels was brokered by Alexander Lukashenko.
⚡️⚡️⚡️ President of #Belarus #Lukashenko held talks w/ head of PMC Wagner #Prigozhin. Negotiations continued throughout the day.
‼️Y.Prigozhin accepted the proposal of President of 🇧🇾 to stop the movement of armed people of the Wagner company on the territory of #Russia pic.twitter.com/Kpf2SW7RNu
— Belarus MFA 🇧🇾 (@BelarusMFA) June 24, 2023
Belarus said on Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin thanked Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko after the head of Wagner announced he was turning around his men.
“Alexander Lukashenko informed Putin in detail regarding the results of talks with head PMC Wagner,” Lukashenko’s press office said in a statement, saying the Russian President “thanked his Belarusian counterpart.”
The head of the rebel Wagner threatened to march on Russia’s capital city Moscow on Saturday before saying a pull-back, adding they (Wagner) did not want to spill blood.
In a statement, the head of Russia’s Lipetsk region said that they were lifting restrictions following the Wagner forces march stopped.
Moscow later confirmed an agreement had been inked and that Yevgeny Prigozhin would have all charges against him dropped and shift to Belarus.
In a statement, Belarus said, ” Alexander Lukashenko, having further clarified the circumstances through his own available channels, held dialogue with the chief of the Wagner Yevgeny Prigozhin, in coordination with Putin,”.
“The dialogue lasted for a whole day. As an outcome, the parties came to a deal on the inadmissibility of unbridling a massacre in Russia. Yevgeny Prigozhin accepted President Alexander Lukashenko’s offer to halt the movement of Wagner’s men on Russian territory and to take further measures to de-escalate tensions.”
Earlier, Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to crush the revolt and prevent the country from descending into civil war as rebel mercenaries from the Wagner private military force advanced toward Moscow after seizing a strategic military base.
