The militiamen of the Wagner group led by Evguéni Prigojine, stopped their advance towards Moscow and left positions in Russia, after negotiations under the aegis of the Belarusian president.
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“There are only losers” in the aborted rebellion of Wagner, estimates Sunday June 25 on franceinfo Sylvie Bermann, former ambassador of France in Russia between 2017 and 2019. The forces of the paramilitary group Wagner began to leave their positions in Russia on Saturday, after the volte-face of their leader Yevgeny Prigojine, who had challenged the authority of Vladimir Putin.
“The image of a country that is not doing well”
For Sylvie Bermann, not only “Evgeny Prigojine comes out the loser” of this failed rebellion, but also Russia, offering “the image of a country that is not doing well”. The former French ambassador to Russia also considers that “Vladimir Putin is a loser” in that case. After settling in Russia “the verticality of power, one has the feeling of a weakening, even if its power has never really been called into question”, she explains. Sylvie Bermann adds that“on the eve of the intervention in Ukraine had full powers in Russia and was respected around the world as a strong power”.
“Stability was Vladimir Putin’s watchword and main asset.”
Sylvie Bermanat franceinfo
Sylvie Bermann observes that if the head of the Kremlin keeps “the reins of power” and stay “protected”, her “decision to intervene in Ukraine has only negative consequences”. It specifies that the war in Ukraine “is not called into question”, but the rebellion, even temporary, of the Wagner militia can still represent a kind of “victory for the Ukrainians who have strengthened their offensive”. The former French ambassador to Russia recalls that said that during his televised speech on Saturday, “Vladimir Putin assured that this would not change anything in his resolution to wage war”. It does not come out of it less that said “psychologically weakened”.