MOSCOW, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that he had warned Russian mercenary chiefs Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin to beware of possible threats to their lives, and he insisted that Wagner fighters would remain in Belarus.
President Putin initially vowed to crush Prigozhin’s rebellion in June, comparing it to the wartime turmoil that led to the 1917 revolution, but hours later a deal was reached to allow Prigozhin and some of his fighters to go to Belarus.
Lukashenko, who helped broker the deal, used prison slang shortly after the uprising to say he had persuaded Putin not to “delete” the mercenaries listed as passengers on the private jet that crashed Wednesday north of Moscow.
Prigozhin, Lukashenko said on Friday, had twice rejected concerns raised by the Belarusian leader about possible threats to his life.
Lukashenko said that during the uprising he had warned Prigozhin that he would “die” if he continued to march on Moscow, to which he said Prigozhin had replied:
Portrait of Yevgeny Prigozhin (L) and Dmitry Utkin (R).AFP via Getty Images
“‘To hell with it – I’m going to die’.”
Later, Lukashenko said, when Prigozhin and Utkin, who helped find Wagner and were also listed as passengers on the crashed plane, had come to meet him, he had warned them both:
“Children – you are careful”.
Who is the head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin?
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin as a talented businessman following the plane crash that apparently killed him.
Prigozhin is the owner of the private military contractor Wagner Group.
Prigozhin planned to arrest the top Russian military officers during his coup attempt.
Flames engulf plane after crash.TELEGRAM/ @grey_zone/AFP via Getty Images
Prigozhin and his mercenaries did not face charges and were instead exiled despite leading an armed rebellion against the Kremlin.
Prigozhin began his career as a petty criminal – he was convicted of robbery and assault in 1981 and served 12 years in prison.
The location where the plane crashed.
He criticized Russia’s Defense Ministry as incompetent and accused it of withholding weapons and ammunition from its troops, who are fighting on behalf of Russia in Ukraine.
Prigozhin has been indicted in the United States for meddling in the 2016 presidential election through his infamous internet “troll factory”.
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It is not clear from Lukashenko’s words, reported by state news agency BELTA, when the conversation took place.
Lukashenko, both a longtime friend of Prigozhin and a close ally of Russia, said that Putin had nothing to do with the plane crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.ZUMAPRESS.com
“I know Putin: he is calculating, very calm, even slow,” said Lukashenko. “I cannot imagine that Putin did it, that Putin is to blame. It is too rough and unprofessional work.”
The Kremlin said on Friday that Western suggestions Prigozhin had been killed on his orders was an “absolute lie” while refusing to definitively confirm his death, citing the need to await the results of tests.
Lukashenko said Wagner’s fighters would remain in Belarus.
“Wager is alive, Wagner is alive and Wagner will stay in Belarus,” Lukashenko said. “The point remains here.”
“As long as we need these units, they will stay and work with us,” he said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
