MEXICO CITY (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th June, 2023) Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has expressed solidarity and support to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian people amid the Saturday events, involving the Wagner Group private military company (PMC) and its head Yevgeny Prigozhin.
"I express the solidarity of the people and government of Cuba to the respected President Putin and the brotherly people of the Russian Federation, in the face of attempts to provoke an armed rebellion in the country. We are fully convinced that unity and constitutional order will prevail," Miguel Diaz-Canel said on Twitter on Saturday.
Earlier in the day, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro expressed support and solidarity to Russia and its government.
On Friday, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a criminal case for inciting armed mutiny over statements made on behalf of Prigozhin. The FSB said that there was a threat of escalation on Russian territory. The Russian Defense Ministry said that social media reports of alleged Russian military strikes on PMC Wagner camps were not true.
Putin delivered a televised address to the nation on Saturday in which he described the actions of the Wagner Group PMC as an armed mutiny and treason, and promised harsh measures against the insurgents.
Later in the day, the Belarusian presidential office said that Prigozhin accepted the proposal of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to stop the movement of Wagner troops in Russia and take further steps to de-escalate the situation. Prigozhin later confirmed the information, saying that Wagner troops were returning back to their field camps.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Saturday evening that the criminal case against Prigozhin would be terminated and he would leave for Belarus under guarantees given by Putin. The spokesman added that members of the Wagner PMC who were involved in the Saturday events would not be prosecuted given their distinguished service during Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
