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Belarus President: ‘Wagner Leader In Russia’

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

MINSK/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The fate of Russia’s rebellious Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin remained unclear Thursday, with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko saying he was no longer in Belarus.

Lukashenko, who last month brokered a deal to end an armed mutiny in Russia, said, “As for Prigozhin, he’s in St Petersburg (Russia’s second biggest city). He is not on the territory of Belarus.”

That was remarkable as Lukashenko said on June 27 that Prigozhin, whose Wagner fighters briefly captured a southern Russian city and marched towards Moscow, arrived in Belarus as part of the June 24 deal to end the crisis.

However, Lukashenko said an offer for Wagner to station some of its fighters in Belarus – a prospect that has alarmed neighboring NATO military alliance countries – still stands.

He stressed he did not see it as a risk to Belarus and did not believe Wagner fighters would ever take up arms against his country.

In the same rare meeting with reporters at the Palace of Independence in Minsk, Lukashenko also defended a decision to move Russian tactical nuclear weapons up Belarus.

“God forbid I should ever have to take the decision to use them,” Lukashenko had said recently, adding, “But I won’t hesitate to use them.” Asked about these comments on Thursday, the Belarusian leader said: “[U.S. President] Joe Biden could say the same thing, and [British] Prime Minister [Rishi] Sunak,” Mr Lukashenko replied. “And my friend [Chinese President] Xi Jinping and my Big Brother [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin.”

NO PISTOLS

When reminded that nukes aren‘t exactly pistols and are Russia’s weapons, Lukashenko answered: “In Ukraine, a whole army is fighting with foreign weapons, isn’t it,” the Belarusian leader retorts. “NATO weapons. Because they’ve run out of their own. So why can’t I fight with someone else’s weapons?”

Yet he dismissed a description that he was “Europe’s last dictator.” Lukashenko, 68, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist since 1994, added he was not a dictator but that if he were, he would certainly not be the last.

“Come here, come here. Don’t be afraid. You have my full guarantee of security – no one will snatch you,” Lukashenko told reporters with a chuckle.

He said there were less than 22,000 prisoners in Belarus, down from 50,000 when he came to power nearly 29 years ago. “I am probably not a very strong dictator,” he quipped.

However, when confronted with the case of jailed opposition activist Maria Kolesnikova, he claimed that he “doesn’t know anything about this.”

Yet friends say for months, her relatives and lawyers have been denied access to her in prison. He also denied there are political prisoners in his nation though records show the number has risen from 873 in the autumn of 2021 to about 1,500 now.

Lukashenko, who recently appeared weak, left the meeting with journalists on Thursday after more than 3 1/2 hours of questions. The burly leader limped slightly, saying he had sustained a soccer injury, and cautioned reporters to look after themselves.