Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he personally intervened with Vladimir Putin and the founder of the Wagner mercenary group to prevent bloodshed during the weekend mutiny in Russia.
In Lukashenko’s version of the events, published by the state-owned news agency Belta on Tuesday, he persuaded the Russian president to let him reach out to Wagner’s Yevgeny Prigozhin as his mercenaries marched unimpeded to almost 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Moscow.
Lukashenko said he urged Putin not to kill Prigozhin and warned the Wagner chief to stop his soldiers’ advance or “you will be crushed halfway like a bug,” according to Belta.
In the deal brokered by his Belarusian counterpart, Putin pledged to close criminal proceedings targeting Prigozhin and let his troops join the Russian army, return to their families or go to Belarus, in return for their ending the revolt. Both Putin and Prigozhin acknowledged Lukashenko’s involvement, though without giving much detail.
Prigozhin was agitated on the call and demanded justice from leaders in Moscow, Lukashenko said. “We spoke in profanities for the first round of 30 minutes.”
In numerous vulgarity-laden video and audio recordings as the war on Ukraine dragged into its 17th month, Prigozhin accused Putin’s military officials of incompetence and of trying to destroy his private army by bringing it under their command.
Lukashenko said he had offered assistance to Wagner mercenaries who came to Belarus, and an abandoned base to stay at, but said they’d have to pay their way. He also raised the prospect of their becoming a unit within the Belarusian military, but said he wouldn’t have Wagner guard the nuclear arms that Russia is delivering to Belarus.
Belarus also won’t allow any Wagner recruitment offices, Lukashenko said, warning that anyone who joins the private military company should be ready to go to bed each night “hugging death.”
International sanctions against Lukashenko’s regime for a brutal crackdown on protesters after he claimed re-election in 2020 have left him increasingly dependent on Putin economically and politically. The long-time leader allowed Russia to use his country as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine last year.
Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said she is going to Brussels on Tuesday to participate in discussions with European leaders on preventing Belarus from turning into a Russian colony.
“We Belarusians need neither Prigozhin’s thugs, nor Russian nuclear missiles, nor a strong hand,” Tsikhanouskaya said on Telegram.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
