NATO Secretary General Says Wagner's Insurgency Shows President Putin's Strategic Error

Wagner troops when they were about to resign from Rostov City with tank barrels were symbolically covered by flowers. (Wikimedia Commons/Fargoh)

JAKARTA - Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) said the insurgency of the Wagner Group's mercenaries group last weekend showed the Kremlin's strategic error in fomenting the war in Ukraine.

"Last weekend's incidents were an internal Russia issue, and another major strategic error demonstration by President (Vladimir) Putin with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the war against Ukraine," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters during his visit to Lithuanian capital Vilnius Monday.

The confusion over the extraordinary events at the end of last week has left Western governments looking for answers to what will happen next in the country with the world's largest nuclear arsenal, including the matter of war in Ukraine.

Russian authorities are trying to restore the atmosphere on Monday, after Wagner fighters halted a rapid attack on Moscow, withdrawing from the captured southern Russian city of Rostov and returning to their base on Saturday, under a deal that guarantees their safety.

The commander, Yevgeny Prigozhin, will move to Belarus under an agreement mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin said.

Stoltenberg further said NATO was monitoring the situation in Belarus, condemning Moscow's decision to place nuclear weapons there.

"We do not see any indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons. However, NATO remains vigilant," he said, adding that NATO's silt was strong enough to keep its people safe in "an even more dangerous world".

At the same time, Stoltenberg assured Kyiv of continuous support from NATO.

"If Russia thinks they can intimidate us into supporting Ukraine, they will fail. We will support Ukraine as long as necessary," he stressed.

It is known that Prigozhin, who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, often criticized the military leadership under Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and General Chief of Staff General Valeri Gerasimov.

Repeatedly complaining about the problem of supplying bullets and logistics for his subordinates fighting in Bakhmut, last week he also complained that he had not given a medal to his subordinates who were at war in Bakhmut.

On Friday, Prigozhin was furious and accused the Defense Ministry of the attack by the Russian army on Wagner's army camps, launching an attack on Rostov before stopping its 200-kilometer advance from Moscow.

Citing TASS, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Prigozhin and its members involved in the uprising would not be punished, given the services in Ukraine's war. They will be given the opportunity to sign a contract to join the Russian military and return to war in Ukraine.