Lukashenko claims Prigozhin has given up his demands regarding Russia's defence minister and chief of general staff
Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus, has claimed that Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group, has finally given up his demands that Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov should be dismissed.
Source: Belarusian regime-aligned news agency BelTA, citing Lukashenko during a ceremonial presentation of military shoulder straps to senior officers
Details: According to Lukashenko, Prigozhin eventually gave up his initial demands after several rounds of negotiations.
Quote: "He told me: 'I will not demand that the president [Putin – ed.] hand over Shoigu and Gerasimov, and I will not even ask for a meeting.' I replied: 'Good. This is an excellent step. Nothing can be gained by demanding the impossible in this situation, straining the situation'."
Details: According to Lukashenko, the next condition agreed upon by both sides was to halt the further advance of the Wagner convoy towards Moscow.
Background:
- On the evening of 23 June, Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that the regular Russian army had launched a missile strike on the Wagner mercenaries’ rear camps. He therefore deployed 25,000 of his mercenaries "to restore justice".
- On 24 June, the Wagnerites took control of military facilities in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don and seized military facilities in the city of Voronezh. They were on their way to Moscow, and the Russian capital was preparing for defence.
- In an emergency address on 24 June, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia was "fighting for survival" and that attempts were being made to "organise a rebellion" in the country. Ukrainian intelligence said he had urgently left Moscow for a bunker in Valdai.
- That evening, following a conversation with Alexander Lukashenko, Prigozhin said that his mercenaries were heading back to the field camps. He had been promised that the criminal charges against him in Russia were to be dropped, and he was supposed to "leave for Belarus".
- On 26 June, Prigozhin claimed that the purpose of his march on Moscow was to protect the Wagner Group from being wiped out, as the mercenaries had to sign a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defence by 1 July, which they did not wish to do. He also claimed that he had stopped in order to "avoid shedding Russian blood" when Lukashenko suggested finding a way for the Wagner Group to continue operating in a "legitimate jurisdiction". Prigozhin is allegedly in Belarus now.
- Putin officially offered the Wagnerites the opportunity to join other military formations or the Russian Defence Ministry, or to move to Belarus. Wagner’s armoured vehicles are being made ready for transfer to the Russian Defence Ministry.
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