Dubbed 'Putin's chef' in the West, Yevgeny Prigozhin takes credit for setting up Wagner Group
The unannounced session took place on July 1, a week after the revolt by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary army…reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin has held secret talks at the Kremlin with the Wagner warlord who staged an armed mutiny against his regime, according to Western intelligence sources, a media report said.
The unannounced session took place on July 1, a week after the revolt by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenary army, according to French publication Liberation, which cited secret service sources, Daily Mail reported.
Since the alleged meeting, Prigozhin appears to be remaining in Russia rather than forced into exile in neighbouring Belarus as seemed his fate earlier.
The claims about a sensational head-to-head between Putin and Prigozhin come amid a chilling separate theory that the Wagner boss may be tasked with using his armed force to assassinate Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky — and ‘bring his head’ to the Kremlin, Daily Mail reported.
Prigozhin may seek to carry out ‘some great atrocity for the benefit of Russia’ to work his way back in with the Putin regime after his armed revolt aimed at toppling Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Defence Staff Valery Gerasimov, said one of Moscow’s most-respected editors, Nobel prize-winner Dmitry Muratov, Daily Mail reported.
“I think [Yevgeny Prigozhin] may not ask for forgiveness [from Putin],” Muratov, who runs the pioneering investigative news outlet Novaya Gazeta, told Zhivoy Gvozd in his YouTube show.
“But he may commit some great atrocity for the benefit of Russia. He may try to organise an assassination attempt on [Volodymyr] Zelensky and bring the head of the President of Ukraine to the Kremlin. He must do something that will take away the taste of what Putin called ”a stab in the back of Russia’,” Muratov said.
In the wake of the aborted armed mutiny on June 24, Putin swiftly withdrew threats to charge Prigozhin with treason and leading an insurrection.
Moscow, Feb 21 (ANI): Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the Federal Assembly (Russia's two-chamber Parliament), in Moscow on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)
In 2022, Putin had skipped the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, given the war in Ukraine and threats from Western leaders to boycott his appearance, and sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his place…reports Asian Lite News
The G20 summit in India is one of the “most important” events for Moscow, said a senior Russian diplomat, indicating the possibility that Russian President Vladimir Putin could attend the summit, which would be the first time he would come face to face with western leaders since the war in Ukraine began, reported The Hindu.
Answering questions at the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) weekly briefing, the MEA spokesperson too said that the government “looks forward to welcoming Putin” at the G20 summit in Delhi on September 9-10.
“As far as the G20 Summit is concerned, we take it as one of the most important events this year, and all preparations are going on. Usually, plans of the President are announced in due course,” said Russian Deputy Chief of Mission Roman Babushkin, who is acting Ambassador at present, to The Hindu.
In 2022, Putin had skipped the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, given the war in Ukraine and threats from Western leaders to boycott his appearance, and sent Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in his place.
While Babushkin said that Russia was “determined to support the Indian Presidency to ensure the success of the G20 Summit”, the diplomat did not hold out hope that Russia and China would agree to the draft statement — which could result in a failure to issue a joint communique, a first in the G20 grouping’s history.
Ahead of next week’s G20 Sherpa meeting in Hampi, where top negotiators led by India’s G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant will try to hammer out a consensus on a joint statement ahead of the Summit in September, Babushkin said that unless “all countries are on board” there can be no consensus. He claimed that Russia and China’s stand against including the Ukraine war in the text, was understood by the other 13 members of the G20.
When asked why Russia and China were holding up the consensus on the Delhi statement, given that they had signed on to similar paragraphs about Ukraine in last year’s G-20 Bali summit statement, the envoy said that that it was the Western States that were “undermining” India’s presidency by “politicising” the G20 that is meant to discuss economic issues.
“The Western choice for upscaling geopolitical tensions makes the so-called ‘Bali consensus’, which was a huge compromise from the Russian Side last year, even more irrelevant,” Babushkin replied. “This understanding is shared by all non-G7 members, although most of them prefer to keep quiet publicly….If [Western countries] want Ukraine to be part of the G20 agenda, then why not mention their infamous Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria and other campaigns [as well],” he asked.
The meeting is expected to discuss key issues like terrorism, regional security and prosperity…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair the virtual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit on Tuesday, with his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping in attendance.
Besides China and Pakistan, the virtual summit which will be attended by the other SCO member states including Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
India currently holds the SCO Presidency.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will also be present at the summit. This will be his first appearance at an international forum after Russia crushed a coup attempt by the Wagner mercenary group late last month.
The meeting is expected to discuss key issues like terrorism, regional security and prosperity.
The theme of the SCO summit is ‘SECURE’ — S: Security; E: Economic development; C: Connectivity; U: Unity; R: Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity; E: Environmental protection.
Other than the member countries, Iran, Belarus and Mongolia have also been invited as Observer States.
According to the SCO tradition, Turkmenistan has also been invited as the guest of the Chair.
President Putin could have overreacted to the Wagner chief’s anti-constitutional challenge by plunging Russia into civil war but wisely avoided doing so since he sensed that the West had set a trap for him, writes Andrew Korybko
Casual observers are very confused in the aftermath of Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed coup attempt last weekend since both its onset and resolution caught them completely off guard. Few could have expected that the man who led one of Russia’s most formidable fighting forces would pose the greatest challenge thus far to President Vladimir Putin, let alone that he’d survive his armed rebellion. This has given rise to plenty of conspiracy theories, hence the urgent need to clarify the situation.
Prigozhin was embroiled in a fierce rivalry with Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu over the conduct of Russia’s special operation, which he blamed those two for allegedly bungling. The Wagner chief’s “inflated ambitions and personal interests”, as President Putin rightly described them as in his national address on 24 June, combined with what commander of the National Guard Viktor Zolotov later said was Western “inspiration” to make him countenance a coup.
Dubbed ‘Putin’s chef’ in the West, Yevgeny Prigozhin takes credit for setting up Wagner Group
Regarding the second-mentioned assessment, CNN cited unnamed US intelligence officials who confirmed that their country’s spies earlier gathered detailed information about Prigozhin’s plot, “including where and how Wagner was planning to advance”. They withheld this from allies and Russia alike in order for him to go through with his coup and inflict the bloodshed that another of that outlet’s sources told them that they expected would inevitably follow.
Prior to that, Western media had pumped his head full of ideas about him potentially competing against President Putin during next year’s elections or at least becoming powerful enough to be granted a cabinet-level seat if the incumbent wins re-election. These had the effect of imbuing him with delusions of grandeur, especially after Wagner emerged as the leading force responsible for Russia’s victory in the grueling Battle of Artyomovsk/Bakhmut, thus planting the seeds for the coup that later followed.
Prigozhin was paranoid that his rivals wanted to eliminate him after the Defense Ministry mandated that the employees of all private military companies sign contracts with them by 1 July, the perception of which could have been exacerbated by Western information and/or psychological warfare that has yet to be disclosed by the investigation. In his mind, he could either make one last-ditch effort to pressure President Putin into deposing his rivals or go with the flow and fade out of the spotlight once they win.
Wagner chief stands in captured salt mine as Russia captures strategic Soledar town
He regrettably decided to do the former, after which he launched his coup on the false pretext of alleging that the Defense Ministry bombed a Wagner camp, thus supposedly prompting him and his forces to march on the Rostov Region’s military headquarters and Moscow out of so-called “self-defense”. What could have otherwise simply been a mutiny, which would have been bad enough as it is, became a coup attempt once Prigozhin refused to turn around after President Putin condemned his “knife in the back” move.
Along the way to Moscow, his forces shot down several aircraft whose martyrs the Russian leader later commemorated with a moment of silence when meeting with military-security officials. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko eventually mediated an end to this crisis with President Putin’s blessing and detailed everything that took place on that fateful day, including his warning to Prigozhin that he’d be “crushed like a bug” if he didn’t stop his mutineers before they entered the Moscow Region.
The Russian leader mercifully gave the Wagner chief and his collaborators a final chance to save their lives in order to avert the large-scale bloodshed that their country’s enemies wanted, which also served to prevent them from becoming martyrs around which domestic extremists could later rally. Up until that point, the Russian elite, military, and society had united around their legitimate leader and the country’s constitution, which proved that Prigozhin didn’t have the support required to pull off his coup. He therefore took the deal that was mediated by President Lukashenko, which stopped the worst-case geopolitical scenario from materializing at the very last minute. The Belarusian leader later revealed that his country’s Western-backed armed opposition had planned to exploit events in this neighboring country but were prevented from doing so by that crisis’ resolution. President Putin also said afterwards in his earlier cited meeting with military-security officials that Russia was saved from civil war.
The above mentioned insight about the geopolitical stakes connected to Prigozhin’s coup attempt, not to mention the related possibility of Ukraine reviving its hitherto failed NATO-backed counteroffensive to reconquer the territory that its government claims as their own, explains why the US didn’t want to stop it. In hindsight, it was intended as the West’s ultimate knockout blow against Russia, which failed due to the country uniting and President Putin not reacting like how their experts predicted that he would.
Far from being the so-called “bloodthirsty tyrant” that they falsely depicted him as for decades and eventually ended believing themselves, he proved himself to be a benevolent and pragmatic leader that patiently explored political means for peacefully resolving Prigozhin’s rebellion with minimal bloodshed. President Putin could have overreacted to the Wagner chief’s anti-constitutional challenge by plunging Russia into civil war but wisely avoided doing so since he sensed that the West had set a trap for him.
Prigozhin’s inflated ambitions, personal interests, paranoia, and greed – the latter of which refers to his rage at the Defense Ministry’s threat to cut off his funding if his fighters didn’t sign a contract with them by 1 July – combined to turn him into the West’s potentially most destabilizing “useful idiot” in history. It’s tragic that he was manipulated into attempting his coup, which he must take full responsibility for despite being influenced by his country’s enemies to commit treason, but Russia is stronger as a result.
Any speculation about the unity of its elite, military, and society was quashed by them rallying around President Putin and the Russian Constitution. Differences veritably exist over the conduct and course of the special operation, but no patriot would ever support overthrowing the government on the pretext of imposing their envisaged solution like Prigozhin exploited as the excuse for his coup. The Wagner chief’s betrayal will go down in infamy as the West’s most devious attempted subversion of Russia since 1917.
(Andrew Korybko is a Moscow-based American political analyst specializing in the global systemic transition to multipolarity)
Russian President Putin extended Eid al-Adha greetings and wishes to Abbas and the Palestinian people…reports Asian Lite News
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin held a phone conversation, discussing the latest developments in the two countries and ways to boost bilateral ties, media reported.
During the phone call, Putin extended Eid al-Adha greetings and wishes to Abbas and the Palestinian people, said the report on Saturday.
Being briefed on the latest developments of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Putin affirmed Russia’s unwavering support for the Palestinian people in achieving their aspirations for freedom and independence by establishing an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, it added as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.
Abbas, for his part, expressed his keenness to restore stability to Russia and wished the country further progress and prosperity
Industrial and product design should become an important resource for the development of domestic business, RT News quoted the President as saying…reports Asian Lite News
Russian President Vladimir Putin called Prime Minister Narendra Modi “a great friend of Russia” and also praised the Centre’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.
Addressing an economic forum in Moscow organised by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), the President said on Thursday: “Our friends in India and our big friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, launched the ‘Make in India’ initiative several years ago. It has had a truly impressive effect on the Indian economy. It would do no harm to emulate what is working well, even if it was not us but our friends who created it,” RT News reported.
Putin made a case for India as he discussed the opportunities for Russian companies due to the West’s sanctions policies, and the need for the Moscow to “offer support tools to help our companies market their products more efficiently”.
Crediting Indian leadership for creating an effective model to develop local manufacturing capabilities and woo foreign investors, Putin emphasized the need to think about “making our products more convenient and functional, with a modern look and properties”.
Industrial and product design should become an important resource for the development of domestic business, RT News quoted the President as saying.
The ‘Make in India’ initiative was launched by Prime Minister Modi in 2014 aimed to to create and encourage companies to develop, manufacture and assemble products made in the country and incentivise dedicated investments into manufacturing.
Putin and Modi last met on the sidelines of a regional security bloc summit in Uzbekistan in September 2022.
The UAE President emphasised the importance of maintaining the stability of the Russian Federation and the safety and security of its people…reports Asian Lite News
President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has made a phone call to Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which the two leaders discussed strategic relations between the two countries and ways to develop them further.
The UAE President emphasised the importance of maintaining the stability of the Russian Federation and the safety and security of its people.
President Putin expressed his happiness with the level of development in bilateral relations between the UAE and Russia in various areas.
After Wagner’s aborted mutiny, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday warned that any attempt at “blackmail or internal turmoil” in Russia would fail and claimed that the West and Kyiv wanted Russians to “kill each other,” according to Al Jazeera.
The rebellion by armed mercenaries on Saturday lasted less than 24 hours. In a televised address to the nation on Monday, Putin said that since the start of the events, steps were taken on his orders to avoid large-scale bloodshed, as he thanked the Russians for endurance and support.
“It was precisely this fratricide that Russia’s enemies wanted: both the neo-Nazis in Kyiv and their Western patrons and all sorts of national traitors. They wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other,” he said, adding “Any blackmail, attempts to cause internal turmoil are doomed to failure.”
“From the start of the events, on my orders steps were taken to avoid large-scale bloodshed,” Putin said, according to Al Jazeera.
The Russian President also said that he would keep his word and permit Wagner fighters to move to Belarus if they so desired, or continue serving Russia by entering into a contract with the Ministry of Defense or other law enforcement agencies, reported Al Jazeera.
Additionally, he thanked his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko for serving as a meditor between Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner group, and the Moscow.
Meanwhile, on Monday, Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said the purpose of the march towards Moscow was to stop the destruction of Wagner’s private military company and “bring to justice those who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during the special military operation”.
In an audio message released on Monday, he said that the march was a demonstration of protest and not intended to overthrow power.
Explaining his decision to turn around his march on Moscow, Prigozhin said he wanted to avoid Russian bloodshed. “We started our march because of an injustice. We went to demonstrate our protest and not to overthrow power in the country,” Prigozhin said in an audio message, Al Jazeera reported.
He, however, did not share any details regarding where he was or what his future plans are. (with inputs from ANI)
The UAE president reiterated the UAE’s principled position aimed at de-escalation and the necessity for a negotiated political solution to the crisis in Ukraine…reports Asian Lite News
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has reinforced the importance of communication and dialogue to support regional and international stability and peace.
He reiterated the UAE’s principled position aimed at de-escalation and the necessity for a negotiated political solution to the crisis in Ukraine.
His Highness also stressed the importance of accelerating efforts to mitigate the humanitarian repercussions of the crisis and supporting prisoner-exchange initiatives on both sides.
The UAE President’s call for dialogue and diplomacy came during a working visit to St. Petersburg today, where he met with Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation.
The two leaders discussed the longstanding relations as part of the UAE-Russia strategic partnership framework. His Highness and President Putin expressed their ongoing commitment to further build on the bilateral ties between the two nations.
The working visit of His Highness comes as part of the UAE’s continuous communication with all nations in an effort to build bridges and foster positive partnerships to ensure regional and international security and stability.
The UAE President was accompanied during the working visit by a delegation including H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Tahnoun Al Nahyan, Special Affairs Advisor at the Presidential Court; Ali bin Hammad Al Shamsi, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for National Security; Dr. Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology; and Dr. Mohammed Ahmed Al Jaber, UAE Ambassador to the Russian Federation.
First batch of tactical nuclear weapons moved to Belarus: Putin
Moscow, June 17 (IANS) Russia has already stationed a first batch of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted by a media outlet as saying.
Putin made the remarks during his speech at St Petersburg International Economic Forum. He told the forum that they (tactical nuclear weapons) would only be used if Russian territory or state was threatened, the BBC reported.
The US government says there is no indication that the Kremlin plans to use nuclear weapons to attack Ukraine.
“We don’t see any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after Putin’s comments.
Putin said that transferring the tactical nuclear warheads would be completed by the end of the summer, the British news broadcaster reported.
The Russian President said that the move was about “containment” and to remind anyone “thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on us”.
التقيت الرئيس فلاديمير بوتين في سانت بطرسبرغ.. بحثنا مسارات التعاون بين الإمارات وروسيا، والقضايا الدولية والإقليمية ذات الاهتمام المشترك، وأهمية الحلول السياسية للأزمة الأوكرانية.. نهج الإمارات بناء جسور التعاون والحوار مع الجميع لخدمة السلام والازدهار في العالم. pic.twitter.com/auBEs0vMGL
When asked by the forum’s moderator about the possibility of using those weapons, he replied: “Why should we threaten the whole world? I have already said that the use of extreme measures is possible in case there is a danger to Russian statehood.”
Tactical nuclear weapons are small nuclear warheads and delivery systems intended for use on the battlefield, or for a limited strike. They are designed to destroy enemy targets in a specific area without causing widespread radioactive fallout.
The smallest tactical nuclear weapons can be one kiloton or less (producing the equivalent to a thousand tonnes of the explosive TNT). The largest ones can be as big as 100 kilotons. By comparison, the atomic bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was 15 kilotons.
The US government says there is no indication that the Kremlin plans to use nuclear weapons to attack Ukraine…reports Asian Lite News
US says there is no indication that the Kremlin plans to use nuclear weapons to attack Ukraine
Russia has already stationed a first batch of tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted by a media outlet as saying.
Putin made the remarks during his speech at St Petersburg International Economic Forum. He told the forum that they (tactical nuclear weapons) would only be used if Russian territory or state was threatened, the BBC reported.
The US government says there is no indication that the Kremlin plans to use nuclear weapons to attack Ukraine.
“We don’t see any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after Putin’s comments.
Putin said that transferring the tactical nuclear warheads would be completed by the end of the summer, the British news broadcaster reported.
The Russian President said that the move was about “containment” and to remind anyone “thinking of inflicting a strategic defeat on us”.
When asked by the forum’s moderator about the possibility of using those weapons, he replied: “Why should we threaten the whole world? I have already said that the use of extreme measures is possible in case there is a danger to Russian statehood.”
Tactical nuclear weapons are small nuclear warheads and delivery systems intended for use on the battlefield, or for a limited strike. They are designed to destroy enemy targets in a specific area without causing widespread radioactive fallout.
The smallest tactical nuclear weapons can be one kiloton or less (producing the equivalent to a thousand tonnes of the explosive TNT). The largest ones can be as big as 100 kilotons. By comparison, the atomic bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was 15 kilotons.
Erdogan emphasised that Turkey is determined to continue to make necessary efforts to establish a just peace between Russia and Ukraine…reports Asian Lite News
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, during a telephonic conversation, discussed about the conflict between Ukraine and Russia.
Erdogan stressed that the continuation of consultations with the United Nations to remove obstacles to the export of Russian grain and fertiliser would be beneficial, Erdogan’s office said.
The Turkish President said that the whole world attaches importance to the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allows the export of Ukrainian grain to world markets, underlining that the agreement they established through joint efforts plays a vital role in tackling the global food crisis.
Erdogan emphasised that Turkey is determined to continue to make necessary efforts to establish a just peace between Russia and Ukraine.
Earlier in the day, Erdogan also spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, offering aid to investigate the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant dam in southern Ukraine.
In July 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the United Nations on grain and fertiliser exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Ukraine crisis.
The memorandum of understanding between Russia and the United Nations on the facilitation of exports of Russian food and fertilizer is a parallel agreement with the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
While the exports of Ukrainian grain have made strides, Russia has constantly expressed displeasure with the lack of progress in the facilitation of exports of Russian food and fertiliser.
The initiative, initially in effect for 120 days, was extended in mid-November 2022 for another 120 days till March 18, 2023. At that point, Russia only agreed to extend the deal for 60 days, till May 18, 2023. On May 17, Russia agreed to extend the deal for another 60 days.
