Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko speaks as he meets with foreign media at his residence, the Independence Palace, in the capital Minsk on July 6, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)
MINSK – Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said here Thursday that Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner military group, is not in Belarus.
"As far as I am informed, the fighters of the Wagner PMC are in those camps where they were after the withdrawal from the front for recovery," the official website of the president of Belarus reported, citing Lukashenko as saying.
Lukashenko added that the issue of relocation and deployment of the Wagner military group in Belarus has not been resolved and it depends on the decision of the Russian side and the Wagnerites themselves
"As for Yevgeny Prigozhin, he is in St Petersburg. Where is he this morning? Maybe he went to Moscow, maybe somewhere else, but he is not in Belarus," said the president.
The president also said he sees no risks for Belarus from the deployment of the Wagner fighters in the country, noting that "the Armed Forces of Belarus are very combat-ready units, not inferior to Wagner."
"The Wagner PMC can give our Armed Forces military experience. I will figure out later whether they are in Belarus and how many of them. I will keep my promise to receive them," Lukashenko said.
Lukashenko added that the issue of relocation and deployment of the Wagner military group in Belarus has not been resolved and it depends on the decision of the Russian side and the Wagnerites themselves.
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"We are not building camps. We offered them several former military camps that were used in wartime," the president said, expressing his belief that the situation involving the Wagner military group in Russia won't be repeated in Belarus.
"I do not think that the Wagner PMC will rise up somewhere and turn its gun against Belarus," Lukashenko said.
