saving off-ramp. and those are many of the analogies, rattling the corner, that s another one, right? i don t claim to know that i know what putin will do in any situation in ukraine, but what we just saw on the last 48 hours is he was tested, he said these guys were criminals, they were traitors and would be dealt with. you are showing the video right. now he was very tough in his rhetoric. five hours later, when he has the opportunity to escalate and to use force against the wagner mercenary s coming to moscow, which everyone expected, by the way, in russia, he chose to negotiate instead. i m not saying that is a bad thing. i think it is great. it is proverbial to a civil war, but i think it really undermines this argument that if we do this, we do that, he s going to escalate. well, maybe and maybe not. and maybe some leaders, and we know this in history, of course, including our own american history, that leader shoes to negotiate not when they are at
prigozhin is also rich. he uses his private army to prop up dictators and africa. in particular the president of the central african republic. in exchange, taking gold and blood diamonds worth a half billion dollars a year, according to diplomats. but with money, power, and an armed force, prigozhin has made enemies. he accuses russia s defense minister and army chief driven by jealousy in treason of denying wagner fighters ammunition. and now, he wants revenge. after one of the most dramatic days in russia in decades, prigozhin reportedly agreed to some sort of exile in belarus, but why? was it his only way to survive and keep his lucrative businesses in africa? or is he just biting time? it is hard to believe this murky power struggle is over. that was nbc s richard engel with that reporting. at the top of the, hour does
well. i think they are probably looking at that and making an assessment about what that means. hat and making a president putin, through the entire two decades of his leadership, has always been laser focused on what the russian people think. imagine what he will be thinking looking at those pictures. . the last time we heard from president putin was saturday morning, in which he called, essentially, the people that were part of the wagner mercenary group war criminals, that were making their way towards moscow. we have not heard from him since and we understand he was not part of brokering the deal, it was the belarusian president. is there any sense from what you are hearing and even from what you know of president putin, having interviewed him yourself? and that we will be hearing from him. well, i think that the kremlin have some options, don t they?
i could imagine a couple of things. one is, yes, on the battlefield he may do some things to show a phrase someone has used about us, that he s not a pitiful, helpless he can still wage war within the wagner mercenaries. at home a combination about cracking down. but also handing out some goodies. putin is a warlord, if you will, but he s also a populist. he might decide now is a good time to dole out something to the russian people, to make them feel slightly better economically. so again, i just think it is too soon to count him out. how does putin allow prigozhin to go to belarus unscathed, watching him drive away from rostov-on-don, being cheered for by the russians, taking selfies alongside the russians, nobody s seen standing in his way as he made his way towards moscow. how does putin allow him to
he openly became the face of the private military group, including direct social media posts by him as he recruited at jails across the country and more. the hq is in st. petersburg, russia. interestingly here, this is despite a law that prohibits private military groups in russia. prigozhin s anti-u.s. efforts, though, they also include troll farms, which we ve been talking about going back to 2016 in the election against the u.s. elections. and then this, year because of all this, the u.s. designated wagner is a criminal organization. here secretary of state antony blinken with more. keep in mind, both individuals responsible for terrible acts committed against the ukrainian people, also in the case of wagner, in country after country in africa. wherever webinar grows, death and exploitation follow. that explanation includes conflict in libya and central african republic as well as extorting national resources