Confrontation with Prigozhin did not turn Putin from bulldog to poodle – Latvian Prime Minister
Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karinš disagrees that the confrontation with Yevgeny Prigozhin, financier of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), has made the Russian president less dangerous.
Source: Karinš during a public forum held at the same time as the NATO Summit in Vilnius
Quote: "With Wagner potentially coming into Belarus, I don't think that anyone seriously thinks that even 6,000 soldiers now will be a direct military threat to NATO," he said.
"But imagine even 500 well-trained ruthless mercenaries attempting the migrant route; and what would they do if they came into Europe?" Karinš asked.
That is why he stressed the need to maintain high readiness to respond on the borders of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
"If anyone thinks that oh, Putin is now weak, maybe, on some level, that is, if there two bulldogs fighting and one is weaker, it doesn't mean the other one is a poodle. It means he's still bulldog," Karinš said.
"We're not expecting any lessening of the threat. We don't see anything changing in Russia. So, that means on our side, we have to up the game of preparedness," he added.
Background:
- According to an agreement with self-proclaimed Belarusian President Lukashenko, Yevgeny Prigozhin was to go to Belarus with some of his mercenaries after the attempted coup in Russia.
- Following this, the foreign ministers of the two Baltic states urged NATO on 27 June to step up the security of its eastern borders in response to the deployment of Wagner PMC's mercenaries in Belarus.
- And Polish President Andrzej Duda said that the deployment of Wagnerites to Belarus was a highly negative signal for his country.
Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
