NATO will defend members from threat of Wagner forces in Belarus
Al JazeeraSecretary-General Jens Stoltenberg says the military alliance will protect members from threats by either ‘Moscow or Minsk’. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said the Western military alliance is ready to defend itself against any threat posed by the move of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force to Belarus amid fears the relocation of the private army could create instability for NATO’s Eastern European members. NATO’s Stoltenberg said it was too early to say what the Wagner presence in Belarus could mean for NATO allies, but that the military alliance would protect “every ally, every inch of NATO territory” against threats from either “Moscow or Minsk”. Moscow has said that preparations were under way for Wagner fighters still in Ukraine, who number about 25,000 according to Prigozhin, to hand over their heavy weapons to Russia’s military. Lukashenko and Wagner Talking to his military officials on Tuesday, Belarus’s Lukashenko said he had urged Putin not to kill the rebellious mercenary boss Prigozhin.