Putin says Wagner can keep fighting for Russia, but without Prigozhin

As the Russian president regains control after a failed mutiny, he wants to sideline the Wagnerian leader while keeping his fighters - who started to train troops in Belarus - to work for him.
Three weeks after a brief mutiny in Russia by the Wagner mercenary group, President Vladimir V. Putin said that his troops could continue to fight, but without their controversial leader, while the Belarusian government said some Wagner fighters were there training his forces.
L he future of Wagner and his staff, who played an important role in Mr. Putin's war against Ukraine, remains uncertain, is part of the dissension and unrest in the Russian military hierarchy which has spread in the sight of the public since the rebellion. But the Russian leader has made clear that he intends to sideline Wagner boss Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, who led the uprising.
Mr. Putin, in an interview published Thursday evening, reported on a three-hour meeting in the Kremlin, just days after the uprising, with Mr Prigozhin and his senior commanders. Mr Putin, who has striven since the mutiny to demonstrate his unassailable control over state affairs, presented himself in the interview as a cool-headed arbiter dominating the uproar and described the mutiny as a minor internal conflict which he had resolved.
He said he had praised Wagner's fighters for their military exploits, and suggested that another leader of Wagner is taking over from Mr. Prigozhin, according to Kommersant, a Russian business daily which, alongside a state television reporter, conducted the interview. He said he told Wagner's troops that he "regretted that they seemed drawn" into the mutiny, appearing to lay the blame on Mr. Prigozhin.
" I described the possible paths for their future military service, including in combat,” Mr. Putin said. “Many nodded as I spoke,” he added, but Mr. Prigozhin, who , according to him, was sitting in front and did not see the nod, replied that "guys do not agree with such a decision".

ImageWagner fighters in Rostov-on-Don, Russia last month during the rebellion.Credit...Reuters

The government ordered that Wagner troops who intend to continue fighting sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense, becoming part of the regular Russian army , which Mr. Prigozhin strongly protested. . But Mr. Putin's latest comments seem to leave open the possibility that there may continue to be Wagner units.
Mr. Putin wants to draw a sharp distinction between Wagner's fighters, whose experience and expertise he can tap into, and the mercenary leader whom he now sees as reckless and untrustworthy, according to Tatiana Stanovaya, a nonresident researcher at the Carnegie Endowment. for International Peace.
"They want to preserve the core of Wagner but under a different leadership, one that is clearly much more loyal, and even controllable," Ms Stanovaya said during a telephone interview.
“This meeting was a sign of reconciliation; not in the sense that the conflict is over, but in the sense that there are now rules of the game — you have to follow them,” she added.
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As the Russian president regains control after a failed mutiny, he wants to sideline the Wagnerian leader while keeping his fighters - who started to train troops in Belarus - to work for him.

Three weeks after a brief mutiny in Russia by the Wagner mercenary group, President Vladimir V. Putin said that his troops could continue to fight, but without their controversial leader, while the Belarusian government said some Wagner fighters were there training his forces.

L he future of Wagner and his staff, who played an important role in Mr. Putin's war against Ukraine, remains uncertain, is part of the dissension and unrest in the Russian military hierarchy which has spread in the sight of the public since the rebellion. But the Russian leader has made clear that he intends to sideline Wagner boss Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, who led the uprising.

Mr. Putin, in an interview published Thursday evening, reported on a three-hour meeting in the Kremlin, just days after the uprising, with Mr Prigozhin and his senior commanders. Mr Putin, who has striven since the mutiny to demonstrate his unassailable control over state affairs, presented himself in the interview as a cool-headed arbiter dominating the uproar and described the mutiny as a minor internal conflict which he had resolved.

He said he had praised Wagner's fighters for their military exploits, and suggested that another leader of Wagner is taking over from Mr. Prigozhin, according to Kommersant, a Russian business daily which, alongside a state television reporter, conducted the interview. He said he told Wagner's troops that he "regretted that they seemed drawn" into the mutiny, appearing to lay the blame on Mr. Prigozhin.

" I described the possible paths for their future military service, including in combat,” Mr. Putin said. “Many nodded as I spoke,” he added, but Mr. Prigozhin, who , according to him, was sitting in front and did not see the nod, replied that "guys do not agree with such a decision".

ImageWagner fighters in Rostov-on-Don, Russia last month during the rebellion.Credit...Reuters

The government ordered that Wagner troops who intend to continue fighting sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense, becoming part of the regular Russian army , which Mr. Prigozhin strongly protested. . But Mr. Putin's latest comments seem to leave open the possibility that there may continue to be Wagner units.

Mr. Putin wants to draw a sharp distinction between Wagner's fighters, whose experience and expertise he can tap into, and the mercenary leader whom he now sees as reckless and untrustworthy, according to Tatiana Stanovaya, a nonresident researcher at the Carnegie Endowment. for International Peace.

"They want to preserve the core of Wagner but under a different leadership, one that is clearly much more loyal, and even controllable," Ms Stanovaya said during a telephone interview.

“This meeting was a sign of reconciliation; not in the sense that the conflict is over, but in the sense that there are now rules of the game — you have to follow them,” she added.