A Russian spokeswoman has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Wagner mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and his officers to discuss the recently unsuccessful rebellion against the Kremlin.
The face-to-face encounter took place in the Kremlin on June 29 and lasted around three hours, according to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on July 10. The conference was held five days after the failed uprising, which represented Mr. Putin's greatest threat since taking office on the final day of 1999.
“It is true that the president did have this meeting. He invited 35 people to it—all the commanders of the units and the management of the [Wagner private military] company,” Mr. Peskov said in an audio-only recording on July 10. The meeting was first reported by French newspaper Liberation.
“The president gave his assessment of the company in the frontline battles,” he added. “He also gave his assessment of the events of June 24. The president listened to the explanations given by the commanders and offered them options for further employment and further military service.”
"The commanders gave their account of what happened," Mr. Peskov said in his conclusion. They emphasized their commitment to serving as the commander-in-chief's devoted troops and supporters. They said that they were prepared to continue fighting for their country.
The notification from the Kremlin shows that after the exiled leader and longtime Putin ally landed in Belarus on June 27, Mr. Prigozhin went to Russia at least once. In exchange for stopping his men' advance on Moscow and agreeing to leave Russia as an exile, Mr. Prigozhin had helped arrange a deal with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
Mr. Prigozhin stated that he had ordered his mercenaries to stop their march on Moscow and withdraw to their field camps in Ukraine in order to prevent spilling Russian blood in a statement on his Telegram channel on June 24.
The short Wagner uprising, which began on June 23 and lasted for around 24 hours, saw renegade paramilitaries commanded by Mr. Prigozhin seize Rostov-on-Don and a military headquarters before moving on a 680-mile march on Moscow.
The army and defense leaders were to be "brought to justice," according to Mr. Prigozhin, for what he termed their mistakes and unprofessional acts in Ukraine, not Mr. Putin.
The announcement on Monday coincided with the release by the Russian Ministry of Defense of a film featuring Gen. Valery Gerasimov, head of the Russian military's general staff. The military head appeared in public for the first time since Wagner's aborted revolt, suggesting he had preserved his position.
One of Mr. Prigozhin's rebellious targets was Mr. Gerasimov. He is a senior military official in Moscow who is in charge of the invasion of Ukraine.
