On Saturday (June 24, 2023), Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone with his counterparts from Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkey about the armed uprising led by the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin. “The President has informed his interlocutors about the situation,” said Russian Presidency spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
“The President of Turkey (Recep Tayyip Erdogan) has expressed his full support for the steps taken by the Russian Presidency” to control the mercenary group’s insurgency, the Kremlin said in a statement. He had previously communicated with the heads of state of Belarus and Kazakhstan, Alexander Lukashenko and Kazym-Jomart Tokayev.
Lukashenko was the first to receive the call from Moscow. According to the Belarusian agency Belta, “this morning the Russian President called the Belarusian President (…) to update him on the situation in Russia.” Kazakh Tokayev, whose country is also an ally of Russia under the Treaty Organization Collective Security (OTSC), a Moscow-led military alliance, thanked him “for his understanding” during these difficult times.
“internal matter”
According to Kazakh news agencies, President Tokayev told Putin that what was happening in Russia was “an internal Russian matter”. He also spoke to the President of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, whom Putin “informed about the situation,” I agree with Peskov. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Moscow has been losing allies on the international stage.
And in response to rumors circulating on social media and other fronts that a plane or helicopter carrying Putin had left Moscow for Saint Petersburg, Peskov explained that “the president works in the Kremlin.” , no further details given Details Moscow is now turning into a fortress awaiting the eventual arrival of Wagner’s troops in the capital.
DZC (EFE, AFP, Portal)