Moscow [Russia], June 25 : Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko became the mediator and avoided a possible bloodbath by convincing the increasingly isolated Wagner Private Military Company (PMC) founder Yevgeny Prigozhin to give up his command and withdraw to Belarus, reported TASS News Agency.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that the Belarusian President volunteered because he has been acquainted with Prigozhin for about 20 years.
"You will likely ask me why precisely President Lukashenko [became the mediator]? The thing is that Alexander Grigoryevich has known Prigozhin personally for a long time, about 20 years, and this was his personal initiative which was coordinated with President Putin," the Kremlin official said.
Putin's press secretary stressed that June 24 was a "rather difficult day, literally filled with these tragic events."
"You know that as a result, it was possible to resolve this situation without further losses, without further escalating the level of tensions," he said.
"The two presidents, indeed, agreed on President Lukashenko providing mediating efforts on settling the situation [with the Wagner PMC]. We hold this readiness in high esteem," the Kremlin official concluded, as per TASS News Agency.
According to informed Russia watchers, the Kremlin could not afford to go all out against Prigozhin and Wagner after their victories in Ukraine and the heavy price they paid for Russia. The mutiny could have escalated into a civil war if not nipped in the bud, given Prigozhin's highly unstable and abrasive character and the support he obviously had from the West.
According to Scott Ritter, Prigozhin had been 'turned' by MI6 which had promised him the highest reward if he could get himself appointed as Minister of Defence and start negotiations with Ukraine.
There was no basis for those claims but the goal was to demoralise the Russians and proclaim himself the saviour of Russia with a blank cheque to do what he would deem fit to stop the war (presumably rush into a deal with the West), as per informed Russia watchers.
Earlier, on Saturday morning, Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, in a Telegram post, announced that his men had crossed the border from Ukraine into southern Russia and were ready to go "all the way" against the Russian military.
He said he and his men would destroy anyone who stood in their way. "But we will destroy anyone who stands in our way," he said, adding, "We are moving forward and will go until the end."
As the Wagner troops were said to be driving into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Prigozhin said border guards greeted his mercenaries, reported ABC News.
He said young conscripts at checkpoints stood back and offered no resistance, adding that his forces "aren't fighting against children.
"After Prigozhin's statement, Russia's President Vladimir Putin in a televised address to the nation said the "armed mutiny" by the Wagner Group is a "stab in the back", vowing to punish those who were on the "path of treason" or anyone who takes up arms against the Russian military.
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