Wagner Revolt Could Leave Putin Pal on Shaky Ground

Despite all of Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko’s chest thumping about his involvement in negotiating an end to Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s uprising in Russia, he might have set himself up for political instability, a top U.S. diplomat tells The Daily Beast.

With Lukashenko agreeing to have Prigozhin exiled to Belarus—and potentially having Wagner fighters move to Belarus—there are likely elite Belarusian politicians in Lukashenko’s circle who are eyeing the outcome of his negotiations with great distaste, U.S. Ambassador Michael Carpenter told The Daily Beast.

“I’m sure the top power in nomenklatura in Belarus is looking very carefully at what has occurred,” Carpenter, who has tracked the ins and outs of Lukashenko’s rule for years, told The Daily Beast. “Some of them are beholden to Russia and others very much want to chart a course for an independent, sovereign Belarus.”

Read more at The Daily Beast.