Putin: Lots Of Wagner Fighters Nodded, But Prigozhin Said 'No'
- 14.07.2023, 7:41
The head of the Russian Federation voiced the humiliating for him details of the meeting with the PMC representatives.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has for the first time revealed details of his meeting with Wagner mercenaries and the head of the organisation, Yevgeny Prigozhin. It took place on June 29, five days after the mutiny.
Answering a question from a Kommersant correspondent, he said that in his conversation with the mercenaries, he "gave an assessment of what they did on the battlefield, and on the other hand, of what they did during the events of June 24." "The third thing - I showed the possible options for their further service, including combat use. That's all," Putin said.
In addition, the president told the newspaper that "the PMC Wagner does not exist." "We don't have a law on private military organisations! It simply does not exist! There is no such legal entity," Vladimir Putin explained. "Here he was apparently speaking as a lawyer," the Kommersant correspondent remarked.
"There is a group, but legally it does not exist!" the president reiterated again, adding that their legalisation is a separate complicated issue that "should be discussed in the State Duma, in the government."
Putin also described how, during his meeting with Wagner commanders, Prigozhin refused to transfer the mercenaries to the Defence Ministry. According to the president, he offered the PMC fighters different employment options, including under the guidance of their direct commander with the call sign Sedoy. As "Kommersant" specifies, Wagner mercenaries have served under the command of this man for the past 16 months.
"A lot of them nodded when I said this," Putin continued, "and Prigozhin, who was sitting in front and didn't see it, said after listening, 'No, the guys don't agree with this decision,'" Putin said.
The meeting between the Russian president, Prigozhin and the Wagner group was first reported by Western intelligence. The information was later confirmed by the Kremlin. Putin himself "invited" the businessman and his mercenaries - 35 commanders of PMC units - to the Kremlin five days after the armed uprising, on June 29, said the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov. He specified that the meeting lasted about 3 hours, and did not give its details.