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China supports Russia in maintaining national stability — foreign ministry

The Chinese foreign ministry called the situation around PMC Wagner Russia’s internal affair

BEIJING, June 25. /TASS/. China supports Russia in its efforts towards national stability and prosperity of the country, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Sunday, commenting on the situation around PMC Wagner.

"This is Russia’s internal affair. As Russia’s friendly neighbor and comprehensive strategic partner of coordination for the new era, China supports Russia in maintaining national stability and achieving development and prosperity," it said.

In the evening of June 23, several audio recordings were posted on PMC Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Telegram channel. In particular, he claimed that his units had been allegedly attacked and blamed the military leadership of the country. In connection with these statements, the Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a criminal case over calls for an armed rebellion. The Defense Ministry dismissed the claims about alleged strikes on the "rear camps of the PMC Wagner" as false.

In his address to the nation on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the PMC Wagner’s actions as an armed mutiny and treason.

Later on Saturday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in coordination with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin, which yielded a de-escalation plan. Later, Prigozhin said that PMC Wagner was halting its advance to Moscow to return back to its field camps. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the criminal case against the Wagner chief would be dropped, while Prigozhin himself would go to Belarus. Besides, the Russian authorities pledged not to prosecute PMC Wagner troops who took part in the mutiny because of their "combat merits.".

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