Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko described the details of his meetings with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Wagner PMC. On June 24, Prigozhin’s warriors tried to mount an armed rebellion with him.
According to Lukashenka, he decided to tell the details of the negotiations, “due to the appearance of jingo-patriots, who began to howl and shout, condemn. [президента России Владимира] Putin, demanding from him not to stop criminal cases, to catch, soak, sew.
“And after a fight, we can shake our hands, ah, how can we do it and advise: “Wet, wet and wet.” Listen, there’s someone to get wet, you know exactly where. There’s someone to be imprisoned where it’s needed,” he said.
He added that on Friday, June 23, the country celebrates alumni day, dives into this and does not particularly follow the situation in southern Russia: “the war is on, you never know what is going on there. ”
But in the morning he drew attention to “worrying information about the situation in Russia.” Then Putin contacted Lukashenka: “When he spoke at 10 o’clock, he called at 10.10 and informed me in detail about what was happening in Russia.”
Lukashenka realized that “a cruel decision had been made to get wet (it sounded like a subtext in Putin’s speech)” and advised his Russian colleague not to rush and negotiate with Prigozhin and his commanders.
“Putin told me: “Listen, Sasha, it won’t work. He doesn’t even pick up the phone, he doesn’t want to talk to anyone,” said Lukashenka. According to him, he asked for Prigozhin’s phone number to contact him later.
Lukashenka also quoted Putin: “Most likely the FSB has a phone.”
According to the President of Belarus, Prigozhin “picked up the phone immediately.” “We spoke obscene language for 30 minutes in the first round. exclusively. There were 10 times more profanity than normal vocabulary (which I analyzed later). Of course, he apologized and started talking to me with obscene words,” the politician said.
Prigozhin told Lukashenka his demands: to “deliver” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov and hold a meeting with Putin.
I say: “Zhenya, especially in this case, no one will give you Shoigu or Gerasimov. You know Putin as well as I do. “He will not only talk to you, he will not speak on the phone because of this situation,” said Lukashenka.
“They want to strangle us! We will go to Moscow!” Lukashenka remembered the words in the conversation.
“Halfway they will crush you like an insect. Despite the fact that the troops (Putin told me about this for a long time) were directed to the relevant front. Think, I say, about it,” he recounted the conversation.
Lukashenka noted that the authorities could “slam” Prigozhin, but the consequences would be irreparable.
“We can kill him,” I said to Putin. No problem. Not the first time, but the second time. I say “don’t”. Because then there will be no negotiation. These men will do anything,” the politician added.
The President of Belarus predicted the death of “thousands” of innocent citizens in this situation. At the same time, Lukashenka urged not to make anyone a hero, as they “slapped this situation” and hoped it would “solve itself”, but this did not happen.
The President of Belarus said that negotiations with Prigozhin took six or seven rounds. In the end, Prigozhin refused their demands and, fearing that his warriors might be killed, asked Lukashenka what to do next: “We stop – they will begin to wet us.”
“I say: “They will not start. I guarantee you. I take it for myself.” We were in contact with the Russian leadership, the FSB was mainly interested in this issue. I just urged not to do this, ”said Lukashenko. Prigogine, on the other hand, promised to do it without bloodshed.
He assured Prigozhin the free exit to the Wagnerian positions and offered the founder of the PMC a completely safe withdrawal in Belarus. According to the Belarusian politician, Prigozhin had already arrived in Belarus on June 27.
“Yes, indeed, in Belarus today. As I promised, if you want to switch corners with us for a while, we’ll help you out. Naturally, at their expense,” said Lukashenka.
He emphasized that the head of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic had already noted that “such a unit in the army will not harm.” Lukashenka believes that the Wagnerites can teach the Belarusian army a lot.
“We are not setting up any camps yet. But if they want (they monitor separate zones as I understand it), we’ll put them in. Set up a tent, please,” said the President.
According to him, PMC fighters are still “in their camp in Lugansk.” Lukashenka offered Prigozhin to place his warriors in one of the abandoned military units and promised to help them “until they decide what to do with them.”
Lukashenka emphasized that Belarusians can participate in PMCs, but they should be aware of the mortal danger. At the same time, he stated that Wagner reception points will not be opened in Minsk.
On the evening of June 23, the head of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that his fighters were advancing towards Moscow in a “march for justice”. In the morning of the next day, PMC forces blockaded the administrative buildings in Rostov-on-Don and advanced to the capital in armored vehicles. The Russian president described Prigozhin’s actions as “backstabbing” and warned of the consequences. The FSB opened a criminal case on the fact of armed insurrection, which was later canceled.
A day later, it became known that Lukashenka met with the founder of Wagner PMC and persuaded him to abandon his intentions. After the dialogue, Prigozhin announced that he had decided to reverse his columns and send them back to field camps.
Official information on those killed during the riot was not released, but President Putin honored the deceased pilots with a minute’s silence during his meeting with the security forces. As military correspondents and Telegram channels wrote, several equipment belonging to the Russian Ministry of Defense were shot down by the rebels, the crew died.