Ukrainian Foreign Minister: Prigozhin's Fate Shows Possibility of Peace Negotiations with Russia will be in Vain

A wreath in front of PMC Wagner Center headquarters, St. Petersburg, Russia. (Wikimedia Commons/FITY CC)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Tuesday the fate of Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin proved the futility of possible peace talks with Russia.

"Prigozhin is in conflict with Putin," Kuleba said during a press conference in Paris with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna, reported CNN, August 30

"They agreed on security guarantees, and then (Russian President Vladimir) Putin killed him. There is no reason to believe that in other negotiations Putin would have behaved differently," Foreign Minister Kuleba continued.

The Kremlin itself has denied being behind the plane crash, with its spokesman saying such accusations were lies.

As previously reported, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre gave her strongest statement on the possibility of Prigozhin's assassination.

"We all know that the Kremlin has a long history of killing its opponents," he said.

"It's very clear what happened here," he said.

It is known that the Wagner Group mercenary bs Yevgeny Prigozhin was buried peacefully in the shady cemetery of St. Petersburg. Petersburg, his hometown, on Tuesday or six days after the crash of the plane carrying Prigozhin and his entourage that killed all the crew and passengers.

"Farewell to Yevgeny Viktorovich took place in a closed format. Those who wish to say goodbye can visit the Porokhovskoe Cemetery," his press service said in a short post on Telegram, cited from Reuters.

The independent news outlet Agentstvo quoted a funeral employee as saying only 20 to 30 friends and family attended the ceremony and it lasted only 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, the Russian media MSK1, Prigozhin was buried in the cemetery around 4 pm. local time Tuesday.

"That was the wish of his relatives," said the cemetery in response to MSK1's question about why the burial place had not been announced earlier.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin said the decision regarding Prigozhin's funeral rested with his family and was a private matter. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov ruled out President Vladimir Putin's presence at Prigozhin's funeral.