Lukashenka held talks on de-escalation with Prigozhin

The founder of PMC “Wagner” accepted the proposal of the President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko to stop the movement of equipment of the military company through the territory of Russia, informed Telegram-channel “Pool of the First”, close to the administration of the Belarusian leader.

According to the report, the talks were coordinated with Russian President Vladimir Putin and lasted throughout the day. As a result, the parties came to an agreement “on the inadmissibility of unleashing a bloody massacre” on the territory of the Russian Federation. Further steps are planned to de-escalate tensions.

“At the moment, on the table is an absolutely profitable and acceptable option for solving the situation, with security guarantees for the Wagner PMC fighters,” the First Pool said in a statement.

Vedomosti sent a request to the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov.

A little later, Prigozhin confirmed that the movement of his military equipment deep into Russia would be suspended, his press service published a corresponding audio statement. “Now the moment has come when blood can be shed… We are turning our columns around and leaving in the opposite direction to the field camps according to the plan,” Prigozhin said.

On June 23, Prigozhin accused the army of shelling the Wagner PMC camp, which he founded. The Ministry of Defense stated that this information is not true. After Prigozhin’s threats, the FSB opened a criminal case on the fact of calling for an armed rebellion under Art. 279 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The National Anti-Terrorism Committee has introduced a counter-terrorist operation regime in a number of regions.

Later, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his video message, called the actions of Prigozhin and his PMC a betrayal and said that everyone who prepared an armed rebellion, “took the path of blackmail and terrorist methods”, will be punished – “they will answer both before the law and before our people” .

On the morning of June 24, Putin and Lukashenko had a conversation about an attempted armed rebellion taking place in Russia. The Russian president also briefed the presidents of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkey on the situation.

Contacts on the situation in Russia were also announced in the West. The White House said in a press release that US President Joe Biden discussed the attempted coup with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The British prime minister, in turn, has previously stated that “all parties should show responsibility and protect the lives of civilians.”