Vladimir Putin responds to the Wagner Group’s attempted mutiny in his first televised remarks

“I thank Wagner soldiers and commanders who did not shed blood – you can sign a contract with the Ministry of Defence, or move to Belarus,” he said.

The Russian leader claimed “the overwhelming majority” of the Wagner company are patriots of Russia.

“By turning back they avoided further bloodshed,” he continued.

During his five minute televised address, Mr Putin assured the Wagner soldiers who avoided bloodshed and want to go to Belarus that he will keep his promise and allow them to do so.

He added that all necessary decisions to neutralise threat were taken at the very beginning, and “the mutiny would have been suppressed anyway, organisers realised their actions were criminal”.

Mr Putin told Russians those who staged the “mutiny” wanted Russia to lose “and our society to drown in blood, but they miscalculated”.

He went on to thank the Russian people for their “resilience, cohesion and patriotism” and all security services “who stayed loyal to their oath” as well as pilots who died.

Mr Putin also took aim at the West, saying Western nations and Ukraine wanted Russian soldiers to shoot at each other.

“It was precisely this fratricide that Russia’s enemies wanted: both the neo-Nazis in Kyiv and their Western patrons, and all sorts of national traitors. They wanted Russian soldiers to kill each other.” The longtime Russian leader warned attempts to sow unrest in Russia, which he has ruled for more than two decades, would fail.

“Civilian solidarity showed that any blackmail, any attempts to organise internal turmoil, is doomed to fail,” he told Russians.

Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko will make an statement later Monday, a Telegram channel close to him said as his Russian ally Mr Putin prepared to address his nation.

Mr Lukashenko will “answer everything, very soon,” Pul Pervogo, a Telegram channel close to the Belarusian presidency, announced.

The announcement came two days after Mr Lukashenko brokered a deal ending an armed mutiny in Russia.

US talked to Russia during Wagner revolt: report

US diplomats reached out to Russian counterparts in “real time” to discuss security concerns during the Wagner mercenary group revolt, the White House said on Monday.

The relatively rare Russia-US contact came during the mutiny by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner group as it briefly took control of a major city and threatened an attack on Moscow. The upheaval sparked fears in Washington that nuclear-armed Russia could descend into chaos.

“Instability in Russia is something that, you know, we take seriously and we certainly had lots of questions over the course of the weekend,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said, when asked about fears over turmoil in nuclear-armed Russia.

“We did have and were able to have in real time – through diplomatic channels – conversations with Russian officials about our concerns,” he said.

Mr Kirby said US officials continue to monitor Moscow’s nuclear posture “very closely” during the invasion by Russian troops of pro-Western Ukraine.

So far there is “no indication” that Mr Putin is moving in the “direction” of using nuclear weapons or “anything that will cause us to change our own deterrent posture,” Mr Kirby said.

— with AFP.