Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko on Sunday that the Ukrainian counter-offensive launched in early June to push Russian forces out of Ukraine had "failed", according to Russian news agencies.
"There is no counteroffensive," Alexander Lukashenko initially said, according to the TASS news agency, before being interrupted by Putin, who claimed: "There is one, but it has failed."
The talks between the two heads of state will last a day and a half or two days, according to Vladimir Putin. On the agenda will be “security in our region”, said the Russian president, in preliminary remarks broadcast on Russian television.
The two men will also have to discuss the important issue of the paramilitary group Wagner, whose leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had claimed that he wanted to overthrow the Russian military hierarchy.
According to the Kremlin and what it says itself, Alexander Lukashenko had acted as mediator between the Russian presidency and Yevgeny Prigozhin to find a rapid solution to the mutiny.
In the agreement reached between the parties, the Wagner fighters were offered to sign a contract with the regular Russian army, join civilian life or go to Belarus.
Since then, some of its men with combat experience have arrived in Russia’s neighbouring country.
Alexander Lukashenko assured Vladimir Putin on Sunday that he was “guarding” Wagner in central Belarus, claiming to be “in control” of the situation. Lukashenko also accused Warsaw of wanting to “transfer territory” from western Ukraine to Poland, which he described as “unacceptable”.
Vladimir Putin had made similar remarks on Friday, provoking the anger of Warsaw. The Russian Ambassador to Poland was "urgently" summoned to the Foreign Ministry on Saturday following statements by Vladimir Putin the previous day that Warsaw has described as "provocative".
"The borders between countries are absolutely untouchable and Poland is opposed to any revision of them," Polish Deputy Minister Pawel Jablonski responded to the comments.
