Russian president Vladimir Putin met with Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner commanders at the Kremlin days after the mercenaries attempted a mutiny against Russia’s defense apparatus, the Kremlin announced Monday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed an earlier report about the meeting and said it was held on June 29, five days after the Wagner forces turned around their Moscow-bound column. Peskov said Putin had invited 35 people to the three-hour meeting.
“The only thing we can say is that the president gave his assessment of [Wagner’s] actions at the front during the Special Military Operation [in Ukraine] and also gave his assessment of the events of 24 June,” Peskov told reporters, as quoted by Reuters. Before approaching Moscow, the troops took control of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don.
According to Peskov, Putin listened to the concerns of the mercenaries and discussed options for further employment. This is despite the fact Putin’s speech shortly after the attempted mutiny outlined a desire to exact retribution on its organizers. At that point, the Russian president only wanted to extend an olive branch to the regular Wagner soldiers who the organizers had “dragged” along. Putin told those soldiers to either join the Russian military apparatus, go home, or travel to Belarus.
“[The commanders] emphasized that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the supreme commander-in-chief. They also said that they are ready to continue fighting for the Motherland,” said Peskov.
Prigozhin said after the mutiny that his target was the defense apparatus and not Putin and the Russian state itself. His efforts appear to have been in vain, with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov still in place.
The Wagner chief was meant to relocate to Belarus under a deal negotiated by Belarus president Aleksandr Lukashenko. However, Lukashenko recently explained that neither Prigozhin nor the Wagner troops have completed the relocation.