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Kremlin: Putin Won’t Attend Prigozhin’s Funeral 

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Omsk Region Acting Governor Vitaly Khotsenko during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Omsk Region Acting Governor Vitaly Khotsenko during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Kremlin: Putin Won’t Attend Prigozhin’s Funeral 

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Omsk Region Acting Governor Vitaly Khotsenko during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Omsk Region Acting Governor Vitaly Khotsenko during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to attend the funeral of Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed when his plane crashed last week, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.

The crash came two months to the day after Prigozhin and his mercenaries staged a mutiny against Putin's top military commanders in which they took control of the southern city of Rostov and advanced towards Moscow before turning back 200 km (125 miles) from the capital.

"The presence of the president is not envisaged," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked if Putin would attend.

Peskov said the Kremlin did not have any specific information about the funeral, and the arrangements were up to the family.

Investigators said on Sunday that genetic tests had confirmed that Prigozhin was among the 10 people killed in the crash.

The Kremlin has rejected as an "absolute lie" the suggestion by some Western politicians and commentators that Putin ordered Prigozhin to be killed in revenge.

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EU Will Not Recognize Venezuela Election Result Until All Votes Counted, Borrell Says 

People carry Venezuela's national flag to protest the election results that awarded Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro with a third term, in Maracaibo, Venezuela July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
People carry Venezuela's national flag to protest the election results that awarded Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro with a third term, in Maracaibo, Venezuela July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
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EU Will Not Recognize Venezuela Election Result Until All Votes Counted, Borrell Says 

People carry Venezuela's national flag to protest the election results that awarded Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro with a third term, in Maracaibo, Venezuela July 30, 2024. (Reuters)
People carry Venezuela's national flag to protest the election results that awarded Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro with a third term, in Maracaibo, Venezuela July 30, 2024. (Reuters)

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday the bloc could not recognize Venezuela's election result until all votes were counted and records provided, amid international concerns over the integrity of the vote.

The election authority in Venezuela said President Nicolas Maduro had won a third term in office on Sunday with 51% of the vote to extend a quarter-century of socialist rule, despite exit polls that pointed to an opposition win.

Borrell said the electoral commission had announced the vote results on the basis of 80% of ballots counted, while the Venezuelan opposition had published very different results.

"That is an additional reason for not recognizing the results until they will be fully and independently verified," he told reporters during a visit to Vietnam.

The members of the 27-nation bloc will decide on possible next steps only after the full results are made available, he added.

Protesters took to the streets in Venezuela on Tuesday, demanding that Maduro acknowledge he lost the election, as a major international observer concluded the vote was undemocratic.

The government denounced the demonstrations as an attempted coup.

The US-based Carter Center, which observed the vote, said late on Tuesday the election could not be considered democratic as it "did not meet international standards of electoral integrity".