Putin’s Reliance on Belarus Shows Weakness

• John Sullivan told CBS that Putin’s reliance on Belarus to solve his problems shows “actual weakness.”
• Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko helped to resolve the Wagner Group’s uprising on Saturday.
• “It’s not just an appearance of weakness, it’s actual weakness,” Sullivan said.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin is showing how weak he is by relying on Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko to help resolve the Wagner Group’s uprising, said a former US ambassador to Russia.

“How dependent now is Putin on Lukashenko? It’s evidence of the weakness that this reveals, what’s happened in the last three or four days, the weakness of Vladimir Putin. It’s not just an appearance of weakness, it’s actual weakness,” Ambassador John J. Sullivan told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

“A person that he has said is a traitor who has stabbed him and his nation in the back, he struck a deal with? A deal that he needed to strike to avoid bloodshed and chaos,” Sullivan added. “What strong leader does that?” 

Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led his mercenary group in an uprising on Saturday. The rebellion erupted after a long-running feud between Prigozhin and the Russian military leadership. Wagner forces at one point took over a stronghold in Rostov-on-Don, a southern Russian city that hosts an important military base. 

Prigozhin’s troops were approaching Moscow before Prigozhin abruptly called off the rebellion. Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin, “personally offered to broker a deal” with the Wagner Group chief, per The New York Times.

Lukashenko’s office released a statement on Saturday saying that after negotiations, Prigozhin had accepted Lukashenko’s proposal to halt “the advance of Wagner’s armed units in Russia’s territory.” 

As part of the deal, Prigozhin will go into exile in Belarus in exchange for not being prosecuted for the uprising.  Prigozhin’s troops will also not be prosecuted for the rebellion, per the Associated Press.

Though Prigozhin did call off his mutiny in the end, some experts believe the damage has been done to Putin’s reputation. 

A former major general in the Australian military, Mick Ryan, told Insider’s Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert that Prigozhin’s rebellion may spell the beginning of the end for Putin.   

A representative for Sullivan did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.