MINSK, Belarus – Belarusian President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko said in a rare appearance before reporters on Thursday that the leader of Russia’s latest armed insurgency was not in Belarus but stayed in Russia.
Mr Lukashenko said that Yevgeny V. Prigozhinthe head of the Wagner mercenary company, was in St. Petersburg or Moscow, contrary to what he had said for days after the mutiny. Mr Lukashenko’s latest claim could not be verified and Mr Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the uprising almost two weeks ago.
Mr. Prigozhin “is in St. Petersburg,” said Mr. Lukashenko. He added that the Wagner guide might travel to Moscow, the Russian capital, but said it was “not on the territory of Belarus.”
Mr Lukashenko spoke after the most dramatic political chaos in Russia since President Vladimir V Putin took power more than two decades ago. The Belarusian autocrat intervened in the armed mutiny led by Mr. Prigozhin and struck a deal with the Wagner leader, resulting in the latter resigning and withdrawing his troops.
The deal stipulated that Mr Prigozhin should call off his mutiny in exchange for an amnesty for his forces and safe passage to Belarus for him. In the days after the mutiny, Mr Lukashenko had said Mr Prigozhin was in Belarus, but on Thursday he said the Wagner leader remained in St Petersburg where he was doing business.
Mr Lukashenko said he spoke to Mr Prigozhin on Wednesday and that Wagner will continue to “fulfill his duties towards Russia for as long as possible”. He said Mr. Prigozhin is “a free man, but what will happen later I don’t know.”
Mr Lukashenko also said that Wagner troops were not in Belarus and remained in their “permanent camps”. The claim could not be verified. After the failed mutiny, Wagner troops marched in returned to their camps in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, a region largely occupied by Russia and illegally annexed last fall.
Mr Lukashenko said that before he had offered Wagner fighters an “abandoned” military baseand satellite Images confirmed by The New York Times last week revealed that new temporary structures are being built on an abandoned base some 80 miles from Minsk, the Belarusian capital. But on Thursday, Mr. Lukashenko seemed annoyed by the question of the possible presence of Wagner troops in Belarus.
“Whether they come here and if so, how many of them will be decided in the future,” he said. “It will depend on the decision of the leadership of Russia and Wagner.”
Mr Lukashenko said all Wagner units in Belarus could be called upon to defend the country, suggesting the mercenary company would remain a combat force even after the failed mutiny. Mr Lukashenko said Wagner’s agreement to defend Belarus in the event of war was the main condition for granting permission for the group to relocate to the country.
“If we need to activate this unit in defense of the nation, then it will activate immediately,” he said. “And their experience will be in high demand.”
After the uprising late last month, Mr. Lukashenko positioned itself as a power broker who had helped avert a crisis even as he became increasingly isolated from the rest of the world. Seen by the West as a subordinate under the Kremlin’s control, Mr Lukashenko appears to be trying to polish his image as a key player in solving one of the biggest crises of Putin’s tenure as Russian leader.
By allowing an interview for a small group of reporters at his presidential palace on Thursday, Mr Lukashenko may be hoping to gain some degree of independence from his Moscow backers, while potentially gaining a boost at home as an electorate is more interested in peace as joining Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Anatoly Kurmanayev And Ivan Nechepurenko contributed to the reporting.
