Belarus leader says he talked Prigozhin back from brink

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko delivers a speech during a meeting with high-ranking military officers in Minsk, Belarus, June 27, 2023. Press Service of the President of the Republic of Belarus/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that he had convinced Yevgeny Prigozhin in an emotional, expletive-laden phone call to end a mutiny by his Wagner militia that has jolted Russia.

Under a deal brokered by Lukashenko, an old friend, Prigozhin abandoned what a "march for justice" by thousands of his men on Moscow in exchange for safe passage to exile in Belarus.