Kremlin confirms Putin meeting with Wagner chief days after mutiny

Jump to content Sign up to our newsletters Subscribe News Sports Voices Culture Lifestyle Travel Premium Close Zelensky accompanies Azovstal commanders back to Ukraine Russian president Vladimir Putin met with Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his most commanders just five days after the aborted mutiny and they pledged loyalty to his regime, the Kremlin has said. The three-hour meeting took place on 29 June, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said yesterday, in a likely attempt to portray a return to normalcy in the ties between two men who faced off in the biggest military mutiny Russia has seen in decades. No comments have been issued by Mr Prigozhin himself on the meeting, which was first reported earlier yesterday. During the meeting Mr Putin gave an assessment of Wagner’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine , where the mercenaries have fought alongside regular Russian troops, and of the revolt itself. Elsewhere, Joe Biden will meet Volodymyr Zelensky at the Nato summit in Lithuania tomorrow, US officials confirmed to The Independent . The meeting comes as Mr Biden expressed doubts in recent days about Ukraine’s long-sought goal of joining the trans-Atlantic alliance. The two leaders last met in Japan in May for the G7 summit. 1689051522 For Ukraine’s Western allies, the question of whether the country should be granted its long-held wish for Nato membership is not so straightforward. The advantages in terms of security guarantees from being a member of the alliance are obvious, and only more so given the scale of destruction wrought by Russia’s invasion. While some Eastern European members have been pushing for a swift timetable to admit Ukraine, given their own misgivings about Russia’s action near their borders, a number of Western nations are more cautious, aware that a bond built on collective defence can only hold secure if all believe it is strong. Yesterday, the Kremlin made it clear that ‘Ukraine’s membership in Nato will have very, very negative consequences’. Offering Ukraine membership if the war ends doesn’t work, either. It gives Moscow an incentive to keep the war going, allowing Vladimir Putin to keep pushing one of his narratives that the West is trying to claim Ukraine to weaken Russia. Chris Stevenson explains here: Kyiv has been clear that it wants a pathway to join – but some nations are wary about moving at speed and provoking Moscow, writes Chris Stevenson Arpan Rai 11 July 2023 05:58 1689049861 Russia fired Iranian Shahed drones on Kyiv in an air strike in the early hours of today, officials from Ukraine’s military said, confirming the second attack this month. ‘The enemy attacked Kyiv from the air for the second time this month,’ said Serhiy Popko, head of Kyiv’s military administration. He added that Ukraine’s air defence systems shot down all the drones Russia launched before they reached their targets but did not mention the total number of aerial targets fired and intercepted. There was no immediate information about damage or casualties. This comes just hours before the start of the Nato summit in Lithuania that is to focus on security threats from Moscow. The Ukrainian Air Force confirmed air raid alerts were sounded over Kyiv for an hour and longer in parts of eastern Ukraine. Russia has spoken out against the US and the wider Nato alliance on the eve of the summit over their support for Ukraine, warning that Kyiv’s potential membership of Nato would be met with a ‘clear and firm’ reaction. Arpan Rai 11 July 2023 05:31 1689045855 Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin and his commanders met with Russian president Vladimir Putin just five days after the aborted mutiny and pledged loyalty to the government, a senior government spokesperson from the Kremlin has said. The three-hour meeting took place 29 June and involved not only Mr Prigozhin but commanders from his Wagner Group military contractor, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov claimed yesterday, in a likely attempt to portray normalcy in the ties between two men who faced off in the biggest military mutiny Russia has seen in decades. He added that Mr Putin gave an assessment of Wagner’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine, where the mercenaries have fought alongside regular Russian troops, and of the revolt itself. ‘The commanders themselves presented their version of what happened. They underscored that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the commander-in-chief, and also said that they are ready to continue to fight for their homeland,’ Mr Peskov said. The confirmation that Putin met face-to-face with Prigozhin, who led troops on a march to Moscow last month to demand a military leadership change, was extraordinary. Though the Russian leader branded Prigozhin a traitor as the revolt unfolded and vowed harsh punishment, the criminal case against the mercenary chief on rebellion charges was later dropped. No comments have been issued by Mr Prigozhin himself on the meeting. He could still face prosecution for financial wrongdoing or other charges, as threatened by his boss. This came on the same day the Russian defence ministry published a video featuring military chief General Valery Gerasimov – who was one of the main targets of Mr Prigozhin’s rebellion. Monday was the first time Gerasimov has been seen since the revolt last month. Arpan Rai 11 July 2023 04:24 1689043959 Parts of Ukraine are under air raid alerts as Russia is firing overnight airstrikes on the besieged country. The head of the Ukrainian military administration, Serhiy Popko, said Russia had fired airstrikes towards Kyiv and that air defence systems were engaged in repelling the attack. The air attacks have resumed after five days, after a missile strike on Lviv that killed four civilians. Arpan Rai 11 July 2023 03:52 1689043396 Joe Biden will meet with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky at the Nato summit in Lithuania tomorrow, US officials confirmed to The Independent . The meeting comes as Mr Biden expressed doubts in recent days about Ukraine’s long-sought goal of joining the trans-Atlantic alliance. The two leaders last met in Japan in May for G7 summit. ‘I don’t think there is unanimity in Nato about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the Nato family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,’ he told CNN last week. ‘If the war is going on, then we’re all in war,’ he added. ‘We’re at war with Russia, if that were the case.’ The president also said that Ukraine would need to make reforms in terms of ‘democratisation’ before joining the alliance. Meeting comes as Biden expressed doubts about possible Ukraine membership in Nato Arpan Rai 11 July 2023 03:43 1689030000 Three weeks on from the extraordinary mutiny staged by the Russian paramilitary organisation the Wagner Group , which threatened to bring down Vladimir Putin , details are continuing to emerge about precisely how it was averted. The armed uprising saw the group’s mercenaries leave their posts in eastern Ukraine on Friday 23 June to cross into Russia and occupy the western city of Rostov-on-Don before engaging in what their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin , called a ‘march for justice’ on Moscow to demand the removal of Russia’s top military officials Sergei Shoigu and Valery Gerasimov in protest at their botched handling of the Ukraine invasion. Mr Prigozhin, 62, had complained for months that his men had been left without sufficient resources as they fought to secure the town of Bakhmut over the hard winter months, frequently taking to Telegram to record messages denouncing the insufficient supplies of ammunition his forces had received from the Defence Ministry. With things looking black for Mr Putin by the Saturday evening as a Wagner column approached the Russian capital, the standoff was abruptly ended after Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko , a long-time ally of Mr Putin, stepped in to help broker a deal between the two sides, wherein Mr Prigozhin agreed to relocate to Belarus and for his forces to stand down. For 36 hours, Russian president appeared to be on the brink as Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenary fighters left frontline in Ukraine to occupy Rostov-on-Don and march on Moscow Matt Drake 11 July 2023 00:00 1689026402 The NATO alliance has reached an agreement on regional plans about how to deal with a possible Russian attack. NATO had no need for a large-scale defence plan for decades as it fought smaller wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years. Also, the USSR collapsed in 1991 which no longer posed an existential threat. But now Russia has invaded Ukraine, the bloc has agreed that all planning must be in place before a conflict erupts. The plans will also give nations guidance on how to upgrade their forces and logistics. NATO officials believe it will take a few years for the plans to be fully implemented but the alliance can head into battle immediately if required, Sky News reported. Matt Drake 10 July 2023 23:00 1689022802 The Ministry of Defence said Russia has killed 13 civilians over the last month. Posting on Twitter, the MoD said: “Russia continues to claim they don’t target civilians as their illegal invasion passes the 500 days mark. “Last month Russian forces targeted and bombed a pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk, killing at least 13 civilians, including children.” Matt Drake 10 July 2023 22:00 1689019202 Joe Biden arrived at the Lithuanian capital ahead of a two-day NATO meeting. It comes after a brief stint in the UK where he met Rishi Sunak and King Charles. The US president was greeted by Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nauseda at the airport. US President Joe Biden arrives to Vilnius on the eve of a NATO summit Matt Drake 10 July 2023 21:00 1689015602 The former Prime Minister tweeted that it is “ridiculous” to say Ukraine’s NATO membership could provoke Putin. He also said it was absurd to talk about the risk of escalation and the alliance should offer a clear path for Ukraine’s NATO membership. Writing on Twitter, he said: “Putin didn’t launch the bloodiest war in Europe for 80 years because he feared that Ukraine was about to join Nato. Everybody could see that was nonsense. “He attacked precisely because Ukraine was NOT a member, and unlikely to become one for the foreseeable future – and therefore had no valid western security guarantees. “Putin attacked Ukraine because for 30 years we in Nato have dithered and refused to be clear about Ukraine’s future. “The time for ambiguity is over. Our doublespeak has brought us nothing – and it has brought disaster for Ukraine. “The Ukrainians are fighting for freedom everywhere, and when they have won they will need the same protection as the east Europeans and the Baltic states. “The Ukrainians need the clarity and simplicity of Nato membership – and with that clarity will come peace and stability, for Russia as well as for Ukraine.” Matt Drake 10 July 2023 20:00 Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in Please refresh your browser to be logged in