The Russian president revealed this Friday, for the first time, details of the meeting with Yevgeny Prigozhin and other commanders of the Wagner Group, five days after the failed rebellion of the mercenary group, and defended that “this private military company does not exist.” .
In an interview published in the Russian daily Kommersant, Vladimir Putin said he offered the Wagner Group fighters the chance to meet “in one place” and “continue to serve” Russia.
“Everyone could gather in one place and continue to serve [a Rússia]. Nothing would change for them. They would be led by the same person who was their real commander all this time,” Putin said of the content of the proposal he made to the mercenaries at a meeting with 35 Wagner commanders, held in the Kremlin on June 29.
According to the newspaper, the person the Russian leader was referring to was a Wagner Group commander known as Sedoi (Gray Hair).
Putin said that after hearing the proposal, many of those present at the meeting began to agree in favor, but Prigozhin, the Russian president maintained, “did not see it that way” and replied that “the boys did not agree.”
Asked by Kommersat whether the Wagner Group will remain a fighting unit after the failed mutiny, Putin replied: “Such a private military company does not exist.”
“We do not have a law on private military organizations and that is why ‘Wagner’ does not exist,” Putin said, adding that it is a legal issue related to the “effective legalization” of these paramilitary companies.
“This question has to be discussed in the Duma [câmara baixa do Parlamento russo) e no Governo. Não é uma questão fácil”, admitiu.
Segundo o Kremlin, na reunião com os responsáveis do ‘Wagner’, Putin ouviu “as explicações dos comandantes” sobre o motim de cinco dias antes e ofereceu-lhes opções de emprego após a rebelião.
“Os próprios comandantes deram a sua versão do que aconteceu e sublinharam que eram apoiantes e soldados convictos do chefe de Estado e do comandante-chefe”, disse o porta-voz da presidência russa, Dmitry Peskov.
Os líderes do Grupo Wagner, acrescentou Peskov, “também disseram que estavam prontos para continuar a lutar pela Pátria [russa]”.
Source: TSF
