Belarus's Lukashenko says he told Putin not to kill Wagner's Prigozhin

Belarus strongman seeks credit for stepping in to mediate Wagner's turnaround on the road to Moscow

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko speaks in Minsk on June 27. Belarus President Press Service / EPA

Belarus strongman Alexander Lukashenko said Tuesday he had urged his ally President Vladimir Putin not to kill the head of the mercenary Wagner Group, which last week tried to topple Russia's top brass.

Mr Lukashenko, a long-time ally of Mr Putin, claimed to have negotiated an end to the armed insurrection and has said he will take in exiled rebels and Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.

"I said to Putin: we could waste [Prigozhin)], no problem; if not on the first try, then on the second," he told a meeting of security officials, according to state media.

"I told him: don't do this."

Mr Lukashenko, 68, has been hit with western sanctions for cracking down on opposition figures and allowing Russia to attack Ukraine last year from Belarusian territory.

Meanwhile, Belarus welcomed Mr Prigozhin into exile on Tuesday as Mr Putin thanked regular troops for averting a civil war.

Mr Putin's supporters insisted that his rule was not weakened by the revolt, which was widely seen as the biggest threat to Kremlin authority since he came to power.

Asked whether Mr Putin's power was diminished by the sight of Wagner's rebel mercenaries seizing a military headquarters, advancing on Moscow and shooting down military aircraft along the way, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused political commentators of exaggerating.

"We don't agree," Mr Peskov said.

Wagner forces aim to topple Moscow's military leadership - in pictures

A serviceman from private military company Wagner Group blocks the access to the Rostelecom building in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia. EPA

A military column of Wagner private mercenary group drives along the M-4 highway, which links the capital Moscow with Russia's southern cities, near Voronezh. Reuters

A man takes down the poster with writing reading 'Join us at Wagner' on the outskirts of St. Petersburg. AP Photo

People pose for photos on a tank reading 'Siberia' as servicemen from Wagner Group block a street in downtown Rostov-on-Don. EPA

Wagner forces near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in Rostov-on-Don. Reuters

A Wagner group fighter on a street in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don. AFP

Fighters from the Wagner group on the streets of Rostov-on-Don close to the headquarters of the Southern Military District. Reuters

A Russian police patrol on guard at Kremlin in Moscow. EPA

Russian servicemen stand on the streets of central Moscow. EPA

Wagner group fighter stands guard near the headquarters of the Southern Military District in the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia. Reuters

Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of the Wagner mercenary group, speaks inside the headquarters of the Russian army's southern military command centre, which his forces took control of, in the city of Rostov-on-Don. Reuters

Russian police officers guard the Wagner group's headquarters in Saint Petersburg, after President Vladmir Putin described the actions by the mercenary forces as treason. AFP

A woman watches Mr Putin's televised address to the nation, in Moscow. EPA

Russian policemen block a street in downtown Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia. EPA

Wagner fighters stationed on a street in Rostov-on-Don. Reuters

Russian servicemen block a street in downtown Rostov-on-Don. EPA

Mr Prigozhin serves food to Mr Putin, who at the time was Russia's prime minister, at the Wagner chief's restaurant outside Moscow. AP

Wagner fighters in Rostov-on-Don. Reuters

Policemen guard an area near the Wagner offices, in St Petersburg. AP

A Wagner fighter stands guard on a street in Rostov-on-Don. Reuters

Wagner fighters in Rostov-on-Don. Reuters

A Wagner fighter on top of an armoured vehicle in Rostov-on-Don. Reuters

Mr Putin tried to portray the dramatic events at the weekend as a victory for the Russian army.

"You de facto stopped civil war," he told troops from the Defence Ministry, National Guard, FSB security service and Interior Ministry, who gathered in a Kremlin courtyard to hold a minute's silence for airmen killed by Wagner.

"In the confrontation with rebels, our comrades-in-arms, pilots, were killed. They did not flinch and honourably fulfilled their orders and their military duty."

Mr Prigozhin, a former Kremlin ally and catering contractor who built Russia's most powerful private army, has boasted with some support from news footage that his men were cheered by civilians during his short-lived revolt.

But Mr Putin insisted that Wagner's ordinary fighters had seen that "the army and the people were not with them".

In another meeting with defence officials, he confirmed that Wagner was wholly funded by the Russian federal budget, despite operating as an independent company.

He said that since the assault on Ukraine, Moscow had paid the group 86.26 billion roubles (about $1 billion) in salaries.

Russian officials have been trying to put the crisis behind them for three days, with the FSB dropping charges against rank-and-file Wagner troopers and the military preparing to disarm the group.

"Preparations are under way for the transfer of heavy military equipment from the private military company Wagner to units of the Russian armed forces," the Defence Ministry said.