UPDATES WITH MORE REMARKS FROM BELARUSIAN PRESIDENT ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO
By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin cannot be behind Wednesday’s plane crash that killed Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin.
“I can't say who did it. I won't become a lawyer even for my older brother. But I know Putin. This is a prudent, very calm and even slow person, making decisions on other, less complex issues. Therefore, I cannot imagine that Putin did this, that Putin is to blame. Too rough, unprofessional work, for that matter,” Lukashenko said at a news conference in Minsk, according to state news agency Belta.
Lukashenko said that Prigozhin never asked him to provide “security guarantees” for himself, adding that he doesn’t have to ensure Prigozhin’s safety and that talks he held with him never went in this direction.
Lukashenko further said that his talks with Prigozhin focused on the termination of criminal cases against Wagner and the paramilitary group's move to Belarus.
"I suggested it. I said: ‘If you are afraid of something, I will talk to President Putin and we will extract you to Belarus. We guarantee full security to you in Belarus'," he said.
Lukashenko denied that he failed to deliver on "security guarantees," saying that Belarus honored all of its promises to Wagner and it "did even more than that."
"Prigozhin was flying from Africa. And then he landed in Moscow and left for St. Petersburg. How could I ensure his security? This is why I am not the guy you should be asking to answer these questions. Moreover, we've never had this conversation about ensuring security in someone else's territory,” he said.
“They have no complaints. The KGB chief contacted them yesterday upon my instruction and handed over only one message to them from me: We will honor everything Prigozhin and I have agreed,” he said, adding: “Wagner lived, Wagner is alive and Wagner will live in Belarus, no matter how much someone doesn’t want it.”
Lukashenko said that he and Prigozhin had already built a system on how Wagner would stay in the country. “As long as we need this unit, they will live and work with us,” he added.
He further said that he had received information during his visit to the UAE on a possible assassination attempt on Prigozhin, after which he talked with the Russian ambassador and told him about the information to be then delivered to Putin. Lukashenko said that Prigozhin later told him that Putin informed him about it.
Prigozhin was confirmed to be onboard a private jet that crashed on Wednesday in Russia’s northwestern Tver region, killing all 10 passengers.
President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to the families of the victims on Thursday, and described Prigozhin as a "talented man" with a "difficult fate." He said Moscow will thoroughly investigate the causes of the incident.