Leader Alexander Lukashenko’s surprise mediation to reach an agreement with Yevgeny Prigozhin dashed the Belarusian opposition’s fleeting hopes of regime change in neighboring Russia, which holds the country under trusteeship.
The mutiny in Russia by the leader of the Wagner armed militia, Yevgeny Prigozhin, came to an unexpected end with the mediation of the Belarusian leader. According to Minsk and Moscow, it was thanks to Alexander Lukashenko that an agreement was reached between the head of the mercenary group and Vladimir Putin, to halt the militia’s advance towards the Russian capital on Saturday June 24. “The Belarusian head of state successfully helped to overcome the most acute phase of the situation in Russia with [this] attempted military mutiny”, trumpeted the official Belarusian news agency Belta on Saturday evening.
A further surprise: the agreement provides for Wagner’s boss to leave Russian territory for Belarus. An unlikely refuge, given that the country, which has served as Moscow’s rear base since February 24, 2022 for its war in Ukraine, is now virtually annexed by Russia.
The negotiations began on Saturday morning, when Vladimir Putin called Alexander Lukashenko, his closest ally. At the end of a day of extreme tension, which threatened Russian power as rarely before, Yevgeny Prigozhin “accepted the Belarusian president’s proposal” to abandon the insurrection in order to avoid “a bloody massacre in Russia”, according to Belta. The businessman ordered his men marching towards Moscow to “turn back” and “return to the camps”.
Alexander Lukashenko’s surprise intervention puts him in a strong position. Up until now, the Belarusian leader had appeared to be nothing more than Vladimir Putin’s vassal, to whom he owes his political survival after his fraudulent re-election in the Belarusian presidential elections in August 2020. His intervention in the resolution of the Russian crisis has rebalanced the balance of power with the head of the Kremlin, while strengthening their alliance.
Staged” mediation
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised the dictator’s role. We are grateful to the President of Belarus for his diplomatic efforts,” he said, adding that the Kremlin was “very grateful” to the President of Belarus for his diplomatic efforts, adding that the Kremlin was “very grateful” to the President of Belarus for his diplomatic efforts.