Stoltenberg says NATO is ready to defend against Belarus and Russia

This is reported by CNN.

On Tuesday, at a joint news conference at The Hague, Secretary General said that NATO is there to protect every ally, every inch of NATO territory. He also added that the alliance is ready to defend members against Belarus and Russia, and the recent events involving Wagner’s mutiny were “internal Russian matters.” 

The leaders of seven NATO countries were at the congerence. 

It is noted that when asked by journalists about security issues that may arise in connection with the deployment of Prigozhin and his forces to Belarus, all officials said that it was too early to draw final conclusions.

Prigozhin's mutiny in Russia

On June 23, Russian troops allegedly launched a missile attack on the Wagner base. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner PMC, announced a "march of justice" and stated that 25,000 mercenaries were heading to Moscow after the Russian leadership refused to hand over Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

In the evening of June 24, the press service of the self-proclaimed president of Belarus Lukashenko published a statement indicating that the head of the PMC Wagner was willing to halt the movement of the military columns and negotiate with the Kremlin. Allegedly, Prigozhin agreed to this during a conversation with Lukashenko. 

Instead, Prigozhin announced that the Wagner group had stopped their advance and returned to their field camps before reaching 200 km from Moscow. He stated, "In a day, we traveled without reaching 200 km to Moscow. During this time, no blood was shed. However, the moment may come when blood will be spilled. Therefore, taking full responsibility, we are turning our columns around and heading back to the field camps as planned."

On June 26, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin spoke about Prigozhin's mutiny. He mentioned three choices for the future actions of Wagner's PMC fighters.

On June 27, the Federal Security Service of Russia announced the closure of the criminal case related to the armed plot, in which Wagner PMC leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was involved.

On the same day, the self-proclaimed President of Belarus confirmed the arrival of Yevgeny Prigozhin in the country. According to him, the Wagner mercenaries who arrived with him would not guard the Russian tactical nuclear weapons stationed there.