Wagner troops are not yet in Belarus but NATO will be ready for it, the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg says.
“So far we haven’t seen any deployment or movement of any Wagner forces into Belarus. But, of course, again we follow closely what’s happening,” Stoltenberg said after arriving for the NATO summit in Vilnius on Tuesday.
He says he understands Lithuania’s concerns, but assured that “NATO is here, we are ready to defend against any potential threat”.
Last week, the Belarusian army showed a field camp offered to Wagner, a private Russian mercenary group, if it moved to Belarus under the agreement that ended its short-lived mutiny in Russia last month when it took less than 24 hours for Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mercenaries to enter Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, take over the military headquarters there without firing a single shot, and then start marching on Moscow and reach the area less than 200 km from the Russian capital.
The mutiny ended following an agreement with the Russian leadership to allow Prigozhin and his troops to move to Belarus. However, the terms of this agreement and their implementation remain vague, with Prigozhin reportedly still in Russia.
The possible redeployment of Wagner troops to Belarus is causing concern in the Baltic states and Poland, as they fear potential provocations.
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