Putin Met With Prigozhin Days After Failed Mutiny, Kremlin Says
Putin Met With Prigozhin Days After Failed Mutiny, Kremlin Says
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov announced on Monday that Russian President Vladimir V. Putin had a lengthy meeting with Yevgeny V. Prigozhin just five days after the brief mutiny that Yevgeny V. Prigozhin’s Wagner private military company staged. Peskov noted that “further employment options” for the mercenary group were among the topics that were discussed during the meeting.
Since Wagner’s rebellion, which posed the most spectacular challenge to Mr. Putin’s authority in his more than two decades in office, this is the first recorded interaction between the two men since Wagner’s uprising. The narrative of the meeting given by the Kremlin, however, left a great number of issues regarding the future of the mercenary organisation unanswered.
According to a spokesman for the Kremlin, Mr. Putin invited 35 persons to the three-hour meeting that took place on June 29. Among those invited were Mr. Prigozhin and all of Wagner’s top commanders. He did not provide any details regarding the location of the encounter. The particulars of any agreements that were reached during the meeting are still obscure, and Mr. Prigozhin has not commented on the matter since the failed attempt at a coup.
Mr. Peskov stated that “the only thing we can say is that the president gave his assessment of the company’s actions” throughout both the war in Ukraine and the rebellion. “The only thing we can say is that the president gave his assessment of the company’s actions.”
Moreover, the commanders presented Mr. Putin with their point of view regarding the incidents. According to Mr. Peskov, “Putin listened to what the commanders had to say and proposed further employment options as well as further combat options.” The fighters have also given their word that they will remain faithful to the president of Russia.
“They emphasised that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and commander in chief — and also said that they are prepared to fight for the country going forward,” Mr. Peskov said. “They emphasised that they are prepared to fight for the country going forward.”
Even after Mr. Putin denounced them as traitors on national television and vowed to crush their rebellion, the Wagner officials were still able to attend a peaceful meeting with the Russian leader and air their grievances. This demonstrates the power that Mr. Prigozhin has amassed as the leader of Wagner, whose forces led the campaign to seize Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine in one of Russia’s rare battlefield victories in recent months.
It also suggests that the Kremlin may view the mercenaries as a threat that is best contained within the tent rather than marginalised into an aggrieved and armed opposition. At least, this is the suggestion that is made by the evidence.
Any leniency shown to Mr. Prigozhin and his commanders is likely to be met with derision by Mr. Putin’s own Defence Ministry, whose leadership had been the object of Wagner’s ire for months and was the named target of its short-lived rebellion. However, Mr. Putin is walking a precarious line, as any leniency shown to Mr. Prigozhin and his commanders is likely to be met with ridicule by Mr. Putin.
In the early morning hours of June 24, Wagner’s mercenaries overran the city of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia and took control of a key Russian military headquarters there. They then embarked on a brief march towards Moscow.
According to Mr. Prigozhin, the purpose of the mutiny was not to overthrow Mr. Putin or his government but rather to remove the top commanders of the Russian military, specifically Defence Minister Sergei K. Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery V. Gerasimov.
In spite of this, Mr. Putin responded angrily, making an appearance in a national address to condemn the revolt as being an act of betrayal and to warn against the escalation of the conflict into a new Russian civil war. Mr. Putin made the threat that the most severe penalty would be in store for anyone had “consciously chosen the path of betrayal.”
However, the severe sanctions never materialised.
Several hours later, the Kremlin made an announcement on an agreement that was purportedly mediated by the authoritarian leader of Belarus, Aleksandr G. Lukashenko. According to the terms of the accord, Mr. Prigozhin would resign from his position, avoid being prosecuted, and leave Russia for Belarus. Wagner fighters who had engaged in the mutiny would also be freed and not face any punishment; those Wagner fighters who had not participated in the mutiny would be offered the opportunity to sign Russian military contracts.
The arrangement infuriated some Russian observers, who were frustrated that the insurrectionist mercenaries would face no penalty despite the fact that they had shot down Russian planes, resulting in the deaths of an unknown number of Russian servicemen. The accord was met with indignation throughout Russia.
The Kremlin has provided new information regarding Mr. Prigozhin’s whereabouts, contradicting previous statements. On June 29, the day that Mr. Putin and Mr. Prigozhin met, the spokesman for the Kremlin informed reporters that he was unaware of the location of the mercenary boss.
Mr. Peskov stated that the Kremlin did neither have the “ability nor the desire” to trace Mr. Prigozhin’s movements the next week, on July 6.
The following day, the French newspaper Libération stated that Vladimir Putin had met with Vladimir Prigozhin and his officers at the Kremlin in order to “negotiate the fate of his empire.”
Peskov, who was present for the meeting, stated on Monday that he could confirm it had taken place with Putin. The spokesperson for the Kremlin also stated that “the details of it are unknown.”
