On Saturday, Putin gave an angry national address, calling Prigozhin’s rebellion treasonous and “a stab in the back of our country and our people.” But just a few hours later, he negotiated the settlement with Prigozhin. Putin’s actions showed the Russian people and the rest of the world that when confronted by a powerful adversary, he will blink. That is certainly the lesson now being absorbed by leaders in Ukraine and at NATO.
Putin’s only play to remain in power may be to have Prigozhin murdered once he settles into exile in Belarus. Prigozhin, meanwhile, may be condemned to await his assassin, even as he wonders what might have been.
Maybe this is what it says it is. Maybe this is some ruse to put tens of thousands of Wagner forces in Belarus, where they’re in a good position to assault Kyiv while Ukraine is focused on the counter offensive in Crimea.
My thought exactly as soon as I heard that monster is being “exiled” to Belarus.