Lukashenko: Wagner Can Be Used to Defend Belarus

According to Lukashenko, Yevgeny Prigozhin is in St. Petersburg; the Belarusian leader does not believe that Progizhin’s murder is possible any time soon. If the Wagner mercenary group is deployed in Belarus, it could be used to defend the country, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said. His words were quoted by BelTA agency on Thursday, July 6. “Whether they will be deployed in Belarus or not, in what quantity - we will figure it out in the near future... We will definitely inform you about our further relations with this unit,” Lukashenko said. “I am not at all worried or concerned that a certain number of these fighters will be deployed in our country,” Lukashenko added, stressing that if this happens, it will be “under certain conditions.” “The main condition is that if we need to use this unit for the state defence (if they are deployed here), it will be used immediately in any direction,” the Belarusian leader said. Lukashenko: Prigozhin Is in St Petersburg At the same time, Alexander Lukashenko is sure that a Wagner mutiny cannot happen in Belarus: “I don’t think that the Wagner will rebel somewhere and turn the gun against the Belarusian authorities and the state. Lukashenko assures that he had a phone call with Yevgeny Prigozhin on July, 5 and discussed further actions of the mercenary group. The Belarusian leader said, Prigozhin is at large in St. Petersburg. “Maybe he went to Moscow in the morning,” Lukashenko added. “Wagner Fighters Are in Permanent Camps” The Belarusian leader also claims that there are no Wagner fighters on the Belarusian territory so far. “As far as I was informed this morning, the Wagner fighters are in their camps. In their permanent camps, where they remained after the withdrawal from the frontline for recovery,” Lukashenko assures. At the same time, Alexander Lukashenko does not think that “Prigozhin will be killed tomorrow”. The Belarusian politician added that in the near future he would like to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and discuss the problem of the Wagner mercenary group. Earlier, on June, 27 Lukashenko said that the Belarusian Armed Forces had been put on full alert amid the Wagner mutiny.