KREMLIN CONFIRMS PUTIN MET WAGNER CHIEF IN MOSCOW

Vladimir Putin and Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. File Photo: RIA Novosti

Mon 10 July 2023:

The Kremlin says that Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on June 29, five days after the group marched towards Moscow in a short-lived rebellion.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Putin invited 35 people to the meeting, including unit commanders, and that it lasted three hours. The Wagner commanders told Putin they were his soldiers and would continue to fight for him, Peskov said.

“We are unaware of the details (of the meeting – TASS), but the one thing we can say is that the president gave his assessment of the [private military] company’s actions on the frontline during the special military operation and the June 24 events,” Peskov noted.

“Putin listened to explanations from [Wagner] commanders and offered them further options for employment and further use in combat,” the presidential spokesman said. “The commanders themselves shared their version of what happened [on June 24], they emphasized that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the supreme commander-in-chief, and also said that they are ready to continue fighting for the Fatherland.”

“This is all we can say about this meeting,” he added.

Prigozhin who was meant to leave for Belarus post his mutiny, has said the mutiny was not aimed at overthrowing the government but at “bringing to justice” the army and defence chiefs for what he called their blunders and unprofessional actions in Ukraine.

Wagner chief in Moscow since July 1: French media outlet

Russia’s Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin has been in Moscow since July 1, French media outlet Liberation reported citing Western intelligence.

According to the report, since Prigozhin aborted his rebellion in June, he has spent time negotiating Wagner’s future with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Earlier, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko also said that Prigozhin was in Russia and that the question of thousands of his fighters’ relocation to Belarus had yet to be settled.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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