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Russia’s Prigozhin: No More Fighting in Ukraine but Prepare for Africa

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, looks from a military vehicle leaving an area of the HQ of the Southern Military District in a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. (AP)
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, looks from a military vehicle leaving an area of the HQ of the Southern Military District in a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. (AP)
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Russia’s Prigozhin: No More Fighting in Ukraine but Prepare for Africa

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, looks from a military vehicle leaving an area of the HQ of the Southern Military District in a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. (AP)
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Wagner Group military company, looks from a military vehicle leaving an area of the HQ of the Southern Military District in a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. (AP)

Russia's mutinous mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was shown in a video on Wednesday welcoming his fighters to Belarus, telling them they would take no further part in the Ukraine war for now but ordering them to gather their strength for Africa.

Wagner's failed June 23-24 mutiny has been interpreted by the West as a challenge to President Vladimir Putin's rule that illustrates the weakness of the 70-year-old Kremlin chief and the strain of the Ukraine war on the Russian state.

The footage, reposted by his press service on Telegram, is the first video evidence of Prigozhin's whereabouts since the night of the mutiny.

In the video, the authenticity of which Reuters could not immediately verify, a man whose voice and Russian sounded like Prigozhin's, is heard welcoming his men. The video was reposted by his press service on Telegram.

"Welcome lads... Welcome to Belarusian soil," Prigozhin said.

"We fought honorably," said Prigozhin. "You have done a great deal for Russia. What is going on at the front is a disgrace that we do not need to get involved in."

Putin initially said he would crush the mutiny, comparing it to the wartime turmoil that ushered in the revolutions of 1917, but hours later a deal was clinched to allow Prigozhin and some of his fighters to go to Belarus.

Since Prigozhin was last seen leaving the Russian city of Rostov on June 24, mystery has surrounded his fate after he was cast as a traitor by Putin. It is also unclear what Wagner, which Prigozhin said had 25,000 men, would do next.

The video was shot after night had fallen, though it was possible to discern what looked like Prigozhin's profile and a group of men.

'Welcome to hell'

Since a deal was struck to end the mutiny, the Kremlin has sought to project calm, with Putin chairing a variety of meetings, meeting crowds in Dagestan and even discussing quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

Russian officials dismiss Western interpretations of the mutiny and say the West should not concern itself with such "scrapes".

The video posted on Wednesday showed Prigozhin receiving a Wagner black flag, decorated with the motto "Blood, honor, Motherland, Courage", from their camp in southern Russia.

Belarus said last week that Wagner fighters were instructing its soldiers at a military range southeast of Minsk.

Prigozhin says in the video that his men should behave well towards the locals and orders them to train the Belarusian army and gather their strength for a "new journey to Africa."

"And perhaps we will return to the SMO (special military operation in Ukraine) at some point, when we are sure that we will not be forced to shame ourselves," Prigozhin said.

Wagner was founded by Prigozhin and Dmitry Utkin, a former special forces officer in Russia's GRU military intelligence, as a way for Russia to get involved in wars in countries including Syria, Libya and Mali with full deniability.

Wagner helped Russia annex Crimea in 2014, fought ISIS militants in Syria, operated in the Central African Republic and Mali and took the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut for Russia earlier this year with considerable losses on both sides.

Prigozhin had said his mutiny was not aimed at toppling Putin but at settling scores with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov.

After Prigozhin's speech, a man identified as Utkin, then spoke to the men.

"This is not the end. This is just the beginning of the biggest work in the world that will be carried out very soon," Utkin said in Russian.

He then switched to English: "And welcome to hell!"

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World

Europeans Seek Clarity About Trump’s Iran War Aims Before Agreeing to His Warship Demands

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas arrives ahead of a Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the Council of the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, 16 March 2026. (EPA)
European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas arrives ahead of a Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the Council of the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, 16 March 2026. (EPA)
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Europeans Seek Clarity About Trump’s Iran War Aims Before Agreeing to His Warship Demands

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas arrives ahead of a Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the Council of the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, 16 March 2026. (EPA)
European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas arrives ahead of a Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the Council of the European Union in Brussels, Belgium, 16 March 2026. (EPA)

European countries on Monday sought more details about US President Donald Trump's plans for the war on Iran and warned that NATO must not become involved it, as they weighed whether to agree to his call to send warships to help shore up security in the Gulf.

The cool response to Trump’s demand reflects wide caution about the US-Israeli war among allies kept in the dark before, and largely since, it was launched on Feb. 28.

Trump has asked partners, including France, China, Japan, South Korea and Britain, to help secure the Strait of Hormuz for global shipping. He said the United States was talking to “about seven” countries, but he wouldn’t say which ones and gave no indication of when such a coalition might be formed.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted Britain “will not be drawn into the wider war,” and said British troops should only be sent into action that is legal and has “a proper thought-through plan.” But his country is considering other forms of help in conjunction with allies.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Trump also warned that “if there’s no response or if it’s a negative response, I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said that “NATO is a defensive alliance, not an interventionist one. And that is precisely why NATO has no business being involved here.” He said he hopes that NATO allies “will treat one another with the necessary respect within the alliance.”

Merz agreed that “this Iranian regime must come to an end,” but he said that "based on all the experience we have gained in previous years and decades, bombing it into submission is, in all likelihood, not the right approach.”

EU debates Trump's demand

Many are keen to know when the war will end.

At a meeting in Brussels, where European Union foreign ministers gathered to discuss Trump's demand, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said it's important for the US and Israel to define “when they consider the military aims of their deployment to have been reached.”

“We need more clarity here,” Wadephul told reporters.

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also said that US allies in Europe want to understand Trump’s “strategic goals. What will be the plan?”

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski invited the Trump administration to go through the proper channels.

“If there is a request via NATO, we will of course out of respect and sympathy for our American allies consider it very carefully,” he said. Sikorski made a reference to Article 4 of NATO's founding treaty, which allies can invoke if they believe their territory or security is under threat.

Acting in Europe's interests

Still, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that “it is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open."

Kallas had urged the 27 member countries to expand the EU's Operation Aspides naval mission to protect shipping in the Red Sea up into the Persian Gulf. But after chairing the meeting, she said there had been “no appetite” to boost its mandate.

But Kallas said the EU would closely monitor threats to maritime security also in the Red Sea, where Aspides operates with three warships. “The risk that the Houthis get involved is real. So we must remain vigilant,” she said.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants have so far remained on the sidelines of the war even as it has spread across the Middle East, raising questions about why, and perhaps when, the battle-hardened militants might join the fight.

It was not immediately clear whether some European countries might go it alone and form a “coalition of the willing” to provide military support on an ad hoc basis.

The war in Iran has driven up energy prices worldwide, with Brent crude up more than 40%. The conflict has also disrupted the wider global supply chain beyond oil, affecting things like pharmaceuticals from India, semiconductors from Asia and oil-derived products like fertilizers that come from the Middle East.

Cargo ships are stuck in the Gulf or making a much longer detour around the southern tip of Africa. Planes carrying air cargo out of the Middle East are grounded. And the longer the war drags on, the more likely that there will be shortages and price increases on a wide range of goods.

France has said it is working with countries — French President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia — on a possible mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when “the circumstances permit,” when fighting has subsided.

French senior officials, speaking anonymously on ongoing talks, said the Netherlands, Italy and Greece had shown interest and that Spain might be involved in some way.

Starmer said Britain is discussing with the US and allies in Europe and the Gulf the possibility of using its mine-hunting drones already in the region.

World

Trump on Iran: We Don’t Know Their Leaders

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 16 March 2026. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 16 March 2026. (EPA)
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Trump on Iran: We Don’t Know Their Leaders

US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 16 March 2026. (EPA)
US President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, USA, 16 March 2026. (EPA)

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he believes Iran wants to make a deal to end the US-Israeli conflict with Tehran but that it is unclear who is actually leading Iran.

"We don't know who their leader is. We ‌have people ‌wanting to negotiate. We have ‌no ⁠idea who they ⁠are," Trump told reporters during a White House event.

After Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was killed in the initial strikes of the war, Tehran announced his ⁠son, Mojtaba Khamenei, had been ‌named as ‌his successor.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said ‌last week the new leader ‌was believed to have been wounded in a strike. He has not been seen publicly.

"A lot of people ‌are saying that he's badly disfigured. They're saying that he lost ⁠his ⁠leg ... and he's been hurt very badly. Other people are saying he's dead," Trump said.

Oman has attempted multiple times to open a line of communication between the United States and Iran, but the White House made it clear it is not interested at this juncture, Reuters reported on Saturday.

World

Middle East War ‘Not a Matter for NATO’, Says Germany’s Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, attends a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Rob Jetten after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, attends a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Rob Jetten after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP)
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Middle East War ‘Not a Matter for NATO’, Says Germany’s Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, attends a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Rob Jetten after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, attends a joint press conference with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Rob Jetten after their meeting at the chancellery in Berlin, Germany, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP)

Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday said the war in the Middle East started by US-Israeli strikes on Iran was "not a matter for NATO" and Germany would not be taking part in it.

"It has been clear at all times that this war is not a matter for NATO," Merz said, adding that the US and Israel "did not consult us prior to this war".

"There was never a joint decision on whether to intervene. That is why the question of how Germany might contribute militarily does not arise. We will not do so," Merz said at a press conference alongside his Dutch counterpart Rob Jetten.

US President Donald Trump on Sunday called for nations including South Korea, France, China and Britain to help ensure safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has declared closed to US and US-allied traffic.

He later upped the pressure on NATO allies, telling the Financial Times newspaper that the alliance faced a "very bad" future if its members did not do their bit to reopen the strait.

Merz ruled out Germany sending ships to the Strait of Hormuz.

"For as long as the war continues, we will not be involved in ensuring free passage in the Strait of Hormuz by military means," he said.

Merz's spokesman Stefan Kornelius earlier also said the war had "nothing to do with NATO".

"NATO is an alliance for the defense of territory" and "the mandate to deploy NATO is lacking", Kornelius told a regular press briefing.

At a separate briefing on Monday, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Germany wanted all those involved to prevent "further military escalation".

"There will be no military participation" from Germany but Berlin is prepared to support diplomatic efforts to "to ensure safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz", he said.

"We have a situation which we did not provoke... This war started without any consultations," Pistorius added.

Germany's main responsibility is "for the eastern flank and the high north", he said, and "we stay committed to that but we can't be anywhere in the world".

"What does Donald Trump expect from a handful of European frigates in the Strait of Hormuz that the mighty US navy cannot manage alone? This is the question I find myself asking," Pistorius said.