Lukashenko speaks over phone with Putin, Nazarbayev — agency

MINSK: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has held telephone talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and Kazakhstan’s fir...

MINSK: Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has held telephone talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and Kazakhstan’s first President Nursultan Nazarbayev, the BelTA news agency said on Sunday, citing Lukashenko’s press service.

According to the agency, Lukashenko spoke with Putin in the morning. In the second half of the day, Nazarbayev had a phone call with Nazarbayev to discuss the international situation and the situation in the region, as well as bilateral relations.

During his previous phone call with Putin on Saturday evening, the Belarusian leader informed his Russian counterpart about his negotiations with the PMC Wagner leadership.

In the evening of June 23, several audio recordings were posted on PMC Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Telegram channel. In particular, he claimed that his units had been allegedly attacked and blamed the military leadership of the country. In connection with these statements, the Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a criminal case over calls for an armed rebellion. The Defense Ministry dismissed the claims about alleged strikes on the "rear camps of the PMC Wagner" as false

In his address to the nation on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the PMC Wagner’s actions as an armed mutiny and treason and vowed that measures against the trouble-makers would be tough.

Later on Saturday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin, which yielded a de-escalation plan. Later, Prigozhin said that PMC Wagner was halting its advance to Moscow to return back to its field camps. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that a criminal case against the Wagner chief would be dropped, while Prigozhin himself would go to Belarus. Besides, the Russian authorities pledged not to prosecute PMC Wagner troops who took part in the mutiny because of their "combat merits."

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