Vladimir Putin has thanked Alexander Lukashenko, Belarus President, for negotiating with Yevgeny Prigozhin, who agreed to pull back his mercenaries.
Prigozhin made the decision after talking with Lukashenko.
In a surprise development, Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin ordered his mercenaries to halt their march 200km (120miles) from Moscow to ‘avoid shedding Russian blood’.
Lukashenko’s press statement reads: ‘Today (Saturday) at 9 pm, the presidents spoke on the phone again.
‘Belarus president has informed the Russia president in great detail about the results of his negotiations with authorities of Wagner PMC.
‘President of Russia supported and thanked his Belarus colleague for the work he did.’
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Alexander Lukashenko had offered to mediate, with Russian President Vladimir Putin’s agreement, because he had known Prigozhin personally for around 20 years.
It comes as the group made their advances towards the Russian city, having seized control of Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia.
