I did not reach Minsk, and terror began in Europe
commented the leader of the Russian Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigogine On Lithuania’s strengthening of border security with Belarus, saying that he had not yet reached Minsk and terror had begun in European countries, as he put it.
Prigozhin, on his Telegram page, also republished the statements of the President of Lithuania, in which he called for strengthening the eastern wing of NATO after it was decided that the Wagner commander would go to Belarus.
Prigozhin indicated that these measures would not have happened without his move to Belarus.
It is noteworthy that until this moment, Prigozhin’s whereabouts are unknown after leaving Rostov on Saturday, while the Kremlin statement stated that he was going to Belarus.
The armed insurrection that occupied the world and was led by the founder of “Wagner” Yevgeny Prigozhin, ended after the latter’s decision to leave Russia, after mediation led by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov revealed, in press statements, the most prominent points of agreement between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian Alexander Lukashenko, within the framework of Minsk’s mediation to end the disobedience through a settlement process.
The dispute erupted between the commander of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and senior Russian army officers, on Saturday, with the fighters of the Special Military Group seizing a main army headquarters in southern Russia and then heading north towards the capital.
Lithuania is apprehensive
Earlier Sunday, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausida considered that NATO would have to “strengthen” its eastern wing if Belarus hosted the leader of the Russian armed Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Lithuania, located on the Baltic Sea, borders both Russia and Belarus, and next month will host a NATO summit.
The Lithuanian president made this statement after chairing a meeting of the National Security Council devoted to discussing the one-day rebellion that Wagner carried out from Friday evening until Saturday evening, during which its fighters marched towards Moscow.
And after Prigozhin ordered his forces to retreat on Saturday, Moscow announced that the Wagner leader would leave Russia for Belarus and that he would not face any trial.
“If Prigozhin or part of the Wagner Group ends up in Belarus without specific plans or intentions, then this means that we will have to strengthen the security of our eastern borders,” Gitanas Nauseda told reporters. “I am not only talking about Lithuania today, but certainly about NATO as a whole,” he added.
Noseda said Lithuania would allocate more resources to its intelligence services to assess “the political and security aspects of Belarus.”
He also stressed that his country is still planning to host the NATO summit scheduled for next month, and that the security measures surrounding the event do not need to be changed after the recent events in Russia.
Noseda considered that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, would face greater difficulties after Wagner’s rebellion.
Wagner’s rebellion is the most serious security crisis in Russia and the biggest challenge Vladimir Putin has faced since he came to power at the end of 1999.
