MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin has held Kremlin talks with Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and his commanders to discuss the armed mutiny Wagner attempted to mount against the army’s top brass, Putin’s spokesman said on Monday.
The meeting was first reported by French newspaper Liberation, which said Prigozhin had met Putin and the head of the National Guard, Viktor Zolotov, and SVR Foreign Intelligence boss Sergei Naryshkin.
The meeting, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, was held on June 29, five days after the aborted mutiny, which is widely regarded to have posed the most serious challenge to Putin since he came to power on the last day of 1999.
Peskov told reporters that Putin had invited 35 people to the meeting, including Prigozhin and Wagner unit commanders, and that the meeting had lasted three hours.
“The only thing we can say is that the president gave his assessment of the company’s (Wagner’s) actions at the front during the Special Military Operation (in Ukraine) and also gave his assessment of the events of 24 June (the day of the mutiny),” Peskov told reporters.
He said Putin had listened to the commanders’ own explanations of what had happened and had offered them further options for employment and combat.
“The commanders outlined their version of what happened (on June 24). They emphasized that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the supreme commander-in-chief. They also said that they are ready to continue fighting for the Motherland,” said Peskov.
The brief mutiny led by Prigozhin, in which Wagner fighters took control of the southern city of Rostov-on-Don and a military headquarters building, was defused in a deal brokered by Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.
Putin, who likened the events to the turmoil which engulfed Russia in the run-up to the 1917 Russian Revolution, has since thanked his army and security services for averting chaos and civil war.
Prigozhin has said the mutiny was not aimed at overthrowing the government but at “bringing to justice” the army and defense chiefs for what he called their blunders and unprofessional actions in Ukraine.
Putin has so far kept Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov in place, judging by appearances by both men on state TV — rejecting Prigozhin’s appeals to sack them.
Prigozhin was meant to leave for Belarus under the terms of the deal that ended the mutiny. But Lukashenko said last week that Prigozhin was back in Russia and that Wagner fighters had not yet taken up an offer to relocate to Belarus, raising questions about the implementation of the agreement.
Putin held post-mutiny talks with Wagner leader Prigozhin and his fighters – Kremlin
https://arab.news/48pqa
Putin held post-mutiny talks with Wagner leader Prigozhin and his fighters – Kremlin
- The meeting was held on June 29, five days after the aborted mutiny
- Vladmir Putin had invited 35 people to the meeting, including Prigozhin and Wagner unit commanders
Trump plays video in Ramaphosa meeting to back ‘genocide’ claims
- Julius Malema was shown singing ‘Kill the Boer, kill the farmer’ — an infamous chant dating back to the apartheid-era fight against white-minority rule
- Another clip showed former South African president Jacob Zuma singing an anti-apartheid song that threatens white people
Trump asked staff members to play a video on a screen set up in the Oval Office showing Ramaphosa — and the gathered global media — what he said were clips of Black South Africans talking about the issue, including images of what the US president called “burial sites.”
In the video, firebrand far-left opposition lawmaker Julius Malema was shown singing “Kill the Boer, kill the farmer” — an infamous chant dating back to the apartheid-era fight against white-minority rule.
Malema has been a loud and radical voice in South African politics for several years, but his Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party came only fourth in last year’s elections with less than 10 percent of the vote.
The 4:30-minute video showed clips of Malema telling dancing supporters that “we are cutting the throat of whiteness,” and “to shoot to kill.”
“We have not called for the killing of white people, at least for now,” Malema said in one archive clip.
Another clip showed former South African president Jacob Zuma singing an anti-apartheid song that threatens white people with being shot by machine gun.
The video finished with images of a protest in South Africa where white crosses were placed along a rural roadside to represent murdered farmers.
UK anti-Islam activist ‘Tommy Robinson’ charged with harassment of two men
- Crown Prosecution Service said the alleged offenses were committed between August 5 and 7 last year
LONDON: Prominent British anti-Islam activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon has been charged with harassment causing fear of violence to two men around the time of the nationwide riots last year, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
“We have authorized the Metropolitan Police to charge Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, 42, with harassment causing fear of violence against two men,” a Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) spokesperson said in a statement.
Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, is currently in prison over a separate contempt of court issue but is due to be released next week after winning a bid on Tuesday to trim the 18-month sentence.
The CPS said the alleged offenses were committed between August 5 and 7 last year — when riots broke out at anti-immigration protests in towns and cities across Britain following the murder of three young girls in Southport, northwest England.
Yaxley-Lennon, who describes himself as a journalist who exposes state wrongdoing and counts US billionaire Elon Musk among his supporters, was accused by some media and politicians of inflaming tensions at the time of the riots.
Three British ministers to explain increase in arms exports to Israel despite partial ban
- Trade Minister Douglas Alexander and relevant ministers from the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence will answer MPs’ questions
- Liam Byrne, chair of the business select committee, says ministers should clarify reasons behind the increase in arms exports to Israel
LONDON: The British parliamentary committee overseeing trade is summoning three Labour government ministers responsible for arms exports to Israel to answer questions about loopholes in the rules.
In September, the UK government announced a partial ban on arms exports to send munitions to Israel for use in Gaza as the Israeli forces continue their attacks on the Palestinian coastal enclave.
British MPs are concerned that arms companies may exploit the partial nature of arms exports to provide weaponry to Israel for use in Gaza, potentially violating a commitment by ministers.
Liam Byrne, chair of the Business and Trade Select Committee, has called Trade Minister Douglas Alexander and relevant ministers from the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Defence to answer questions about the arms trade with Israel.
He said in a letter that the three ministers should clarify the reasons behind the increase in arms sent to Israel. Additionally, he called for the release of statistics regarding the number of licenses altered to exclude Israel as the end user.
He said the ministers assured MPs that the partial ban covered “equipment that we assess is for use in the current conflict in Gaza, such as important components that go into military aircraft, including fighter aircraft, helicopters and drones, as well as items that facilitate ground targeting.”
His decision followed a report from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade, which revealed last week that the UK government approved licenses for £127.6 million ($171.5 million) worth of military equipment to Israel in the fourth quarter of 2024, which occurred despite the Labour government’s partial ban on arms exports to Israel imposed in September.
The CAAT said that the total is greater than the combined arms exports to Israel for the years 2020 to 2023.
On Tuesday, Foreign Secretary David Lammy assured MPs that “arms are not being delivered to Israel that could be used in Gaza.” However, the government has authorized over £61 million in single-issue licenses for military goods intended for Israel, including targeting systems, munitions, and aircraft parts, according to The Guardian newspaper.
Moderna pulls application for COVID-flu combination shot
- The combination shot comprises a new COVID vaccine and an influenza vaccine
- The company has previously said it does not expect a delay in the FDA’s decision
NEW YORK: Moderna said on Wednesday it has withdrawn an application seeking approval for its flu and COVID combination vaccine candidate to wait for efficacy data from a late-stage trial of its influenza shot, which is due later this year.
The company said it pulled the application in consultation with the US Food and Drug Administration. It is the latest sign of increased regulatory scrutiny of the vaccine approval process since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. took the top US health job earlier this year.
Moderna’s decision comes a day after the US FDA said it would require new clinical trials for approval of annual COVID-19 boosters for healthy people under 65.
The combination shot comprises a new COVID vaccine and an influenza vaccine, both under development by Moderna.
The company has previously said it does not expect a delay in the FDA’s decision for the next-generation COVID vaccine, which is due by the end of the month.
Shares of the company have been battered by declining COVID revenue as well as investor concerns spurred by the appointment of Kennedy, who is a vaccine skeptic, as secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Moderna has been banking on revenue from newer mRNA shots to make up for falling sales of its COVID vaccine and less-than-expected uptake of its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine, which sent its shares down nearly 60 percent last year.
The company in early May pushed back the time frame for the likely approval of its combination vaccine — meant to protect adults aged 50 and above against both COVID-19 and influenza — to 2026.
The FDA last week approved rival Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine more than a month after missing the deadline for the shot’s approval, and limited its use to people with conditions that put them at risk due to the illness.
Germany defends EU-Israel deal as ‘important forum’ for talks
- EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said “a strong majority” of the 27 member states had backed the review
- Kornelius reiterated Germany’s “great concern at the humanitarian situation in Gaza“
BERLIN: Germany on Wednesday defended an EU-Israel cooperation deal, a day after the bloc had ordered a review of it in a bid to pressure Israel over the Gaza war.
Without explicitly confirming media reports that Berlin had opposed the review, foreign ministry spokesman Christian Wagner said that “the EU-Israel Association Agreement is an important forum that we must use in order to discuss critical questions” over the situation in Gaza.
The review announced on Tuesday comes as some European nations take a tougher line with Israel over the devastating impact of its offensive in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the territory.
EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said “a strong majority” of the 27 member states had backed the review.
Diplomats said 17 EU states pressed for the review under an article of the agreement that calls for a respect for human rights, with the Netherlands spearheading the latest push.
On Monday the leaders of Britain, France and Canada condemned Israel’s “egregious actions” in Gaza and warned of joint action if it did not halt its heightened military offensive there.
On Wednesday Stefan Kornelius, spokesman for Chancellor Friedrich Merz, reiterated Germany’s “great concern at the humanitarian situation in Gaza” but stopped short of mentioning any possible further action.
Wagner also confirmed that on Tuesday nine German nationals had been evacuated from Gaza “in close co-ordination with the Israeli government,” together with three of their immediate family members.
