Kremlin: Putin and Lukashenko discussed Wagner, cooperation, external threats

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko discussed the Wagner mercenary group, economic cooperation and external threats during two days of talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

Lukashenko, who helped broker a deal to end a mutiny against the army’s top brass by the Wagner group last month, flew to St Petersburg on Sunday to start the talks with Putin.

The two men have met regularly, as well as talking by phone, since Lukashenko allowed Belarus to be used as a staging post for Russia’s armed forces when they launched what Moscow calls its “special military operation” against Ukraine in February 2022.

Peskov said the two men had not set out to reach any new agreements in the latest talks, but that “within the framework of very close relations, the presidents synchronise their positions, synchronise their watches”.

He said the agenda had taken in “the theme of the Wagner Group, and the theme of trade and economic cooperation, and the Union State, and external threats along the perimeter of our countries.”

Russia and Belarus are linked in a partnership called the “Union State” in which Moscow is the dominant player.

Lukashenko has proved his usefulness to Putin not only in February 2022 but also by letting Russian forces train at his military bases and station tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus.

The Kremlin also credited Lukashenko with brokering last month’s deal to end the mutiny, under which Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was allowed to relocate to Belarus. Thousands of his fighters have since moved there.

Their arrival has caused tensions with neighbouring Poland, which has reinforced its border security in response, prompting a warning from Putin that any aggression towards Belarus would be considered an attack on Russia.