May 24, 2023: Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) and Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko attend a plenary session of the 2nd Eurasian Economic Forum in Moscow, Russia.
MOSCOW — Relations between Russia and Belarus have reached a new level: Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko is now stepping in to resolve internal Russian conflicts.
On Tuesday, he recounted how he had prevented a bloodbath that could have turned into a march on Moscow by Yevgeny Prigozhin and his Wagnerites mercenary forces. Along the way, he even supervised Russian federal officials and was rewarded with a commendation from Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Both Russia and Belarus continue to comment on Saturday's "march of justice" in Moscow, organized by Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin. The events, which Russian officials (including the president himself) called "mutiny," "treason," and "a stab in the back," ended rather quickly, but people were killed: Wagner fighters shot down several helicopters and a plane. No precise official data about the shooting has yet emerged.
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Sign up to our free daily newsletter.When Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the recent events on Monday, he made a special point of thanking the leader of Belarus. "I am grateful to Belarusian President Alexander Grigorievich Lukashenko for his efforts and contribution to the peaceful resolution of the situation."
Late Tuesday, at a previously scheduled military ceremony, Lukashenko gave his first detailed accounting of this past weekend, taking credit for preventing bloodshed. "By Saturday morning at eight o'clock, I already receive alarming information about the situation in Russia. I get a report: President Putin wants to get in touch. Please. We agreed at 9:30 that we would talk at any time convenient for him. At 10:10, he called and informed me in detail about the situation in Russia," said Lukashenko.
The conversation, by all appearances, was long. Lukashenko asked Vladimir Putin to refrain from drastic actions concerning the Wagnerites marching on Moscow and volunteered to talk to Yevgeny Prigozhin.
"Listen, Sasha; it's no use," Putin said, using a nickname for the Belarus leader. "He doesn't even pick up the phone; he doesn't want to talk to anyone."
But the Belarusian leader persisted and eventually contacted Prigozhin: "We talked for 30 minutes during the first round in obscene language. Exceptionally. There were ten times more swear words than regular words."
Prigozhin, Lukashenko said, told him that he did not need much: "I ask for nothing. Let them give me Shoigu and Gerasimov (Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and the head of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov ). And I have to meet with Putin."
Don't call me a mediator
In his own words, the Belarusian president explained to his interlocutor that he would not get any of the above. During Saturday, Prigozhin and Lukashenko, according to the latter, spoke six or seven times. In the end, the head of the Wagner Group agreed to stop the march - under guarantees of security from the President of Belarus.
"At five in the evening, he called me and said: "Alexander Grigorievich, I accept all your conditions. But... What should I do? Stop - they will start to whack us," Lukashenko recounted the dialogue. "I said: "They won't. I guarantee you. I'll take responsibility for that."
The Belarusian president agreed with the head of the FSB, Russian intelligence service, Alexander Bortnikov, on protecting the safety of the insurgents.
This is our problem, my problem, as well as the problem of President Putin and the Russians.
Lukashenko says he then promised to welcome Prigozhin and other Wagnerians in Belarus. (He confirmed late Tuesday that Prigozhin has since arrived in Minsk.)
"Troubles have thus been averted. Dangerous events, which could have happened, have been avoided," concluded the president of Belarus.
Lukashenko did not call himself a mediator but a participant in the events: "I am as much a participant in these events as President Putin because this is our homeland. I repeat: I am just as much a participant in these events as President Putin, so if someone in Russia talks about Lukashenko mediating, there is no mediation! This is our problem, my problem, as well as the problem of President Putin and the Russians."
June 24, 2023: PMC Wagner fighters leave the headquarters of the Russian Southern Military District in Rostov-On-Don, Russia.
Erik Romanenko/TASS/ZUMA
Savior in the making
In Russia, no one has refuted Lukashenko's version of events. On the contrary, gratitude was expressed to him. Meanwhile, everything said by the Belarusian leader describes a new reality in the relationship between Moscow and Minsk, which had never existed before.
The Belarusian leader, who had never before taken part in Russia's domestic issues, personally resolved the large-scale crisis in cooperation with top Moscow officials, who essentially were carrying out his orders. And while there is no alternative version of events, it seems that everything might have unfolded very differently without his intervention, and there could have been more victims.
The integration of Russia and Belarus has reached an unprecedented depth.
In Minsk, Lukashenk is being hailed for his actions in the difficult situation, but others are also noting that the events show that the integration of Russia and Belarus has reached an unprecedented depth.
Speaking with Kommersant, Belarusian political analyst Petr Petrovsky said "we must not forget that there is a Union State of Russia and Belarus, and Lukashenko is the head of the Supreme State Council. The fact that he was involved in resolving the conflict means that he dealt with intra-union security issues. Today, at the informal level, decision-making in the Union States is tied to the leaders. The level of integration has become very deep."
The Belarusian crisis of the summer of 2020 comes to mind against the background of the current situation. After that crackdown on protests, Alexander Lukashenko came into sharp conflict with the West, drawing him even closer to Moscow.
And for a long time after that, during his meetings with Vladimir Putin, he had looked like a beggar. Now, suddenly, he has appeared as a savior.
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