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MINSK, Belarus — President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko of Belarus said on Thursday in a rare appearance with reporters that the leader of the recent armed rebellion in Russia was not in Belarus, but remained in Russia.
Mr. Lukashenko said that Yevgeny V. Prigozhin, the head of the Wagner mercenary company, was in St. Petersburg or Moscow, in contrast with statements he made days after the mutiny. Mr. Lukashenko’s latest claim could not be verified, and Mr. Prigozhin has not been seen in public since the rebellion nearly two weeks ago.
Mr. Prigozhin “is in St. Petersburg,” Mr. Lukashenko said. He added that the Wagner leader may travel to Moscow, the Russian capital, but said that he was “not on the territory of Belarus.”
Mr. Lukashenko was speaking in the aftermath of some of Russia’s most dramatic political chaos since President Vladimir V. Putin came to power more than two decades ago. The Belarusian autocrat intervened in the armed mutiny led by Mr. Prigozhin, striking a deal with the Wagner leader that saw him stand down and withdraw his forces.
The deal called for Mr. Prigozhin to call off his mutiny in exchange for amnesty for his forces, and safe passage to Belarus for himself. In the days after the mutiny, Mr. Lukashenko had said Mr. Prigozhin was in Belarus, but on Thursday he said the Wagner leader remained in St. Petersburg, where he had business operations.
Mr. Lukashenko said he had spoken to Mr. Prigozhin on Wednesday, and that Wagner would continue to “fulfill its duties to Russia for as long as it can.” He said Mr. Prigozhin was “a free man, but what will happen later, I don’t know.”
Mr. Lukashenko also said that Wagner troops were not in Belarus and remained in their “permanent camps.” The claim could not be verified. After the failed mutiny, Wagner troops returned to their camps in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, a region that Russia largely occupies and illegally annexed last fall.
Mr. Lukashenko previously said that he had offered Wagner fighters an “abandoned” military base, and satellite images verified by The New York Times last week showed new temporary structures being built at a deserted base about 80 miles from Minsk, the Belarusian capital. But on Thursday, Mr. Lukashenko appeared to chafe at a question about the possible presence of Wagner troops in Belarus.
“Whether they will come here, and if so, how many of them will come, we will decide in the future,” he said. “It will depend on the decision taken by the leadership of Russia and Wagner.”
Mr. Lukashenko said any Wagner units in Belarus could be called upon to defend the country, suggesting that the mercenary company would remain a fighting force even after the failed mutiny. Mr. Lukashenko said Wagner’s agreement to defend Belarus in the event of a war was the main condition for granting permission for the group to relocate to the country.
“If we must activate this unit for the defense of the nation, then it will be immediately activated,” he said. “And their experience will be in high demand.”
After the rebellion late last month, Mr. Lukashenko positioned himself as a power broker who had helped avert a crisis, even as he has become increasingly isolated from the rest of the world. Viewed by the West as a subordinate under the Kremlin’s control, Mr. Lukashenko appears to be trying to burnish his image as a key player in resolving one of the biggest crises of Mr. Putin’s tenure as Russia’s leader.
By granting an interview to a small group of reporters at his presidential palace on Thursday, Mr. Lukashenko may be hoping to establish a measure of independence from his benefactors in Moscow, while possibly getting a boost at home, with an electorate more interested in peace than joining Mr. Putin’s war in Ukraine.
Anatoly Kurmanaev and Ivan Nechepurenko contributed reporting.
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