Zelensky: Wagner won’t have big contingent in Belarus

June 28, BPN. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Wagner Group’s contingent in neighboring Belarus will not be very big and that his country has a powerful and modern army.

Zelensky spoke at a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda in Kyiv, where they discussed regional security issues.

Duda expressed concern over the deployment of Wagner Group and Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus, saying it changes the security architecture in the region. He also said that NATO must respond firmly to any aggression from the Russian-backed paramilitary group.

Wagner Group is led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, formerly a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Prigozhin recently called for an armed rebellion to oust the Russian defense minister, but later backed down after reaching agreements with Belarusian ruler Alaksandr Łukašenka.