Wagner chief orders mercenaries to stop advance on Moscow

International

24-06-2023, 20:30

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INA - SOURCES

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, made the announcement minutes after the leader of Belarus announced successful talks with the Wagner boss.

The Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny V. Prigozhin announced that his troops marching toward Moscow would turn around, shortly after the leader of Belarus said he was in talks with Mr. Prigozhin on a deal to “de-escalate tensions.”

The negotiations between Prigozhin and President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus opened the possibility that the rapidly evolving security crisis embroiling the Russian government could be resolved without armed fighting. But Prigozhin did not immediately say whether his forces were leaving the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, where he has seized critical military and civilian buildings.