NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance is closely monitoring the development of the situation around the Wagner PMC and information about its alleged “potential redeployment to Belarus” and is “ready to respond quickly.”
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“Firstly, it’s too early to talk about it with certainty – the situation may change. Secondly, we are watching them, we can quickly respond, if necessary,” he said, answering a question about alleged plans to relocate PMCs ” Wagner” to Belarus.
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At the same time, he recalled that we are talking about the internal affairs of Russia. “NATO is focused on supporting Ukraine… NATO should not interfere in these issues,” he explained the alliance’s position.
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According to Stoltenberg, NATO has been strengthening its presence in the eastern direction in recent years.
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On Saturday night in Rostov-on-Don, the headquarters of the Southern Military District was captured by the Wagner PMC. This happened against the backdrop of statements by Yevgeny Prigozhin about allegedly inflicted by the Russian Armed Forces missile and bomb attacks on the camps of PMC “Wagner” – this was refuted by both the Ministry of Defense and the FSB. A criminal case was opened against Prigozhin for organizing an armed rebellion. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the actions of the rebels a criminal adventure, a stab in the back of Russia and treason, which led to exorbitant ambitions and personal interests.
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Later, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in agreement with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin, after which Lukashenko’s press service reported that the head of the PMC accepted his proposal to stop the Wagner movement in Russia and take further steps to de-escalate. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Prigozhin would leave for Belarus, and the criminal case would be dropped. The Kremlin said that the guarantee of this is the word of the President of Russia.
