US President Joe Biden on Thursday suggested Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin could be in danger after he attempted a coup against Russian President Vladimir Putin last month. Speaking to reporters in Helsinki, Biden even gave cautionary advice, disguised as a joke to Prigozhin.
“If I were he I’d be careful what I ate. I would keep an eye on my menu,” said Biden who was referring to countless instances of Russian security services using nerve agents and polonium to poison and kill enemies of Putin.
Biden added that during the NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the world leaders discussed now knowing where Prigozhin was currently located and uncertainty around the impact on Russian operations in Ukraine, following the mutiny.
Wagner Group’s future
Earlier, Putin informed that Wagner PMC was formally non-existent now, following the coup attempt. When questioned about the organisation’s future, from the point of view of the Russian legislation, Putin said, “Wagner PMC does not exist”.
The president explained that Moscow had no law on private military companies and, therefore, “there is no such legal entity”.
“The [Wagner] Group exists, but it is judicially non-existent,” Kommersant’s special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov quoted Putin as saying.
“The formal legalisation is a separate issue that should be addressed by the State Duma [the lower chamber of the Russian parliament] and the government. It’s a complicated issue.”
He added that the controversy surrounding the mercenary group was “very simple and clear” for members of Russian society.
“Wagner’s ordinary members were fighting with dignity… so it is very regrettable that they became embroiled into these events,” said the president.
Notably, after the mutiny, Prigozhin initially moved to Belarus to avoid the wrath of Putin. But Moscow this week informed that the president held a three-hour meeting with the Wagner Group head and other commanders.
WATCH | Gravitas: Is Russia’s Wagner group setting up a secret training base in Belarus?
Why the coup?
The mercenary group had remained on the fringes since its inception in 2014. However, after the war with Ukraine dragged on, Putin turned towards Prigozhin for support. Initially, Wagner Group made concise inroads, hurting the Ukrainian side heavily but soon Prigozhin started to lambast the Russian military and higher authorities for failing to provide his forces with enough resources.
While Prigozhin refrained from directly criticising Putin for the major part, he went for the jugular last month when his troops nearly marched upon Moscow within hours. Before the coup could grow, Prigozhin realised his mistake and chickened out.
(With inputs from agencies)
