(Moscow) Russia will be “stronger” after the abortive rebellion of the Wagner group, which shook Russian power last week, assured Friday its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergei Lavrov.
“Russia has always emerged stronger, stronger, from all the difficulties […] It will still be the case this time. We already feel that this process has started,” Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow.
Last Friday and Saturday, fighters from the paramilitary group led by Yevgeny Prigojine, yet considered close to Mr. Putin, seized several military sites in southern Russia before marching on Moscow.
The rebellion ended on Saturday evening with an agreement providing for the exile in Belarus of Mr. Prigojine.
No sanctions were announced against the mutineers and the security services (FSB) claimed to have dropped charges against them, which many Western analysts and officials saw as a sign of Kremlin weakness.
Since then, the authorities have been trying to show a return to normal after these events, which nevertheless caused one of the worst crises since Vladimir Putin came to power at the end of 1999.
During a trip to the Russian Caucasus (south) on Wednesday, Mr. Putin assured “not to have doubted” the support of the population during the armed rebellion of Wagner.
He even enjoyed a walkabout, shaking hands and having his picture taken, an extremely rare public event, according to images broadcast on Russian television, without AFP being able to verify the degree of spontaneity of this scene. .
“Thank you for being worried about our national interests, but it is not necessary,” Sergei Lavrov added on Friday, responding to a question posed by foreign media.