Hello and Welcome. This is The Capitals.
In a relatively credible biographical account of Vladimir Putin’s life, ‘His Life and Times: Putin‘ by British journalist Philip Short, the Russian president has been described as ruthless, shockingly pragmatic and a leader with autocratic bend who hates historical amnesia — a loss of collective national memory about an event — a euphemism for present-day Russia’s lost Soviet glory.
But over the weekend, after Putin’s own former chef-turned-businessman-turned-warlord directed his mercenaries towards Moscow, the shockwaves were felt across global capitals. The people in newsrooms, like this writer, felt they were witnessing history. A coup d’état appeared nearly imminent.
But in less than 36 hours, the armed uprising by Russia’s Wagner mercenary group led by its boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ended as dramatically as it began. Putin’s shocking pragmatism prevailed after he deployed one of his vassal states’ leaders to diffuse the crisis. Prigozhin is now in Belarus after pulling his men back to their bases. 
Here is a blow-by-blow account of the hours when Putin’s former chef served him a dish of ‘treason’.
More on The Capitals from capitals other than Moscow.
Washington DC, United States
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi with US President Joe Biden during a White House state dinner hosted in former’s honour | AFP
A State Dinner in the White House. A subtle insertion of democratic values advocated by great Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore — ‘Where the mind is without fear‘ — and a mega bilateral convergence on business interests. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s State Visit to the United States had everything but lows.
Riding on India’s moment of growth, Modi addressed the US Congress, met top business leaders and brought home billions in investments. India announced that it will sign Artemis Accords, a non-binding multilateral arrangement between the US and other governments designed to guide civil space exploration.
The two nations also hailed ‘giant leap’ in cooperation on space science, chip development and mineral security.
Paris, France
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at a climate finance summit in Paris | @LulaOfficial/Twitter
In yet another moment of Global South’s geo-economic assertion, US dollar’s role as primary reserve currency for global trade was challenged at a finance summit in Paris by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after the US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen defended the oversized role of US dollar in global markets.
“Why can’t we trade in our own currencies?” Brazilian President Lula asked an assertive US treasury secretary Janet Yellen.
South African President Ramaphosa said that the “issue of currency” would be discussed at the upcoming meeting of BRICS countries later this year, which South Africa is scheduled to host in August.
Athens, Greece
People visit the Areios Pagos hill, with the Acropolis’ Propylaea seen in the background, in Athens, Greece | Representative image/Reuters
For the corridors of power in one of the world’s oldest capitals, voters across Greece headed to a repeat election this weekend. Fomer Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is seeking a second term to form the government.
Mitsotakis’ New Democratic party won the election on May 21, twenty points clear of rival Alexis Tsipras’ Syriza party. However, it fell short of the majority needed to rule without forming a coalition. As election rules this time would accord up to 50 bonus seats to the winner of the vote, the New Democracy party is widely projected to emerge victorious.
That’s all for The Capitals this week. See you next weekend.
