The Kremlin has come out to claim that President Vladimir Putin actually held a meeting with the mutinous Wagner Chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin days after the mercenary group attempted to topple Russia’s military leadership.
The meeting in the Kremlin happened on the 29th of June 29, just days after the short-lived rebellion.
‘Indeed, the president had such a meeting,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, confirming that 35 people had taken part including Wagner’s top leaders and Prigozhin himself.
‘The president gave his assessment of the events of June 24,’ Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, referring to the aborted insurrection.
He said that Putin also ‘listened to accounts’ given by Wagner commanders.
The Kremlin’s announcement came after Putin condemned the mutineers as “traitors” and warned against the danger of civil war.
After sending troops to Ukraine in February 2022 Putin relied heavily on Wagner mercenaries but its chief Prigozhin butted heads with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff.
Prigozhin accused the Russian top brass of attempting to “steal” victories from Wagner and slammed Moscow’s ‘monstrous bureaucracy’ for slowing military gains.
He said he ordered his men to march on Moscow because the defence ministry wanted to break up Wagner after their battlefield successes.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that Russia’s FSB security service initially launched a criminal probe into calls to stage “an armed mutiny” but said it was dropping the case after Prigozhin called off his men.
The Wagner group’s fate and the agreement that put a stop to the uprising against Russia’s senior military command are still very much in doubt little over two weeks after the mutiny that was put down.
The mercenary commander and a few of his fighters were supposed to be banished to Belarus under the plan.
Wagner troops would sign contracts with the regular army if they wished to continue fighting for Russia.
Putin “offered them alternative options for employment” during the three and a half-hour meeting with Wagner commanders in the Kremlin, including combat duty.
Observers see the rebellion as the biggest challenge to Putin’s authority during his more than 20-year rule.