Vladimir Putin hints at sponsoring mercenaries abroad and the “troll factory”; The Bell learned what Prigozhin is now up to now.
Evgeny Prigozhin’s next battleground will be Sudan
What happened
In an televised interview with Austria’s ORF, Vladimir Putin spoke for the first time about how he views restaurateur Evegeny Prigozhin’s international activities, as a sponsor of Russian mercenaries in Syria and having been accused by the U.S. of election meddling with the aid of the “troll factory”. Putin compared Prigozhin to billionaire George Soros, unequivocally hinting that both individuals hide under the disguise of private players while acting in their countries’ interests on the international stage.
- Prior to this interview, when Putin was asked about Prigozhin, he always gave the same answer — he is a restaurateur and private businessman, and has no relationship with the state. But this time, Austrian journalist Armin Wolf was insistent, and the president could not restrain himself, and offered this rather slim concept. Given what we know about Putin’s world view, it is most likely that Putin was honest in his reply this time.
Quote:
“There is such a personality in the United State – Mr Soros, who interferes in all affairs around the world. I often hear from my American friends that ‘America as a state has nothing to do with [his activities]’. There are rumours circulating now that Mr Soros is planning to make the Euro highly volatile. Experts are already discussing this. Ask the State Department why he is doing this. The State Department will say that it has nothing to do with them – rather it is Mr Soros’ private affair. With us, it is Mr Prigozhin’s private affair.” — Vladimir Putin, according to Kremlin’s official website.
- There is really nothing left to add to what Putin said. It is known that the president’s world view contains some elements of conspiracy theory. He does not believe in the transparency of Western democracies, and he believes that real politics are carried out by players behind-the-scenes. By directly hinting in a conversation with a Western journalist that Prigozhin is one of these behind-the-scenes players, Putin affirms that the practice of interfering in international affairs via intermediaries continues.
- We don’t know if the “troll factory” received any instructions vis a vis the midterm elections coming up in the U.S. But this week, The Bell learned exclusive details about the next place where Evgeny Prigozhin will conduct his “private activities”. It is yet another failed state, Sudan, which since gaining its independence in 1956, has been in an almost constant state of civil war. The Bell learned that after Vladimir Putin met with Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir in November 2017, PMC Wagner mercenaries, who are reportedly sponsored by Prigozhin, were sent to the African country and are already training the local army. At the same time, companies related to Prigozhin received concessions to develop Sudan’s gold deposits. A similar scheme for Prigozhin’s related companies was used in Syria: there Prigozhin’s companies plan to access one quarter of all oil and gas produced from those fields which are won back and protected by the mercenary army.
- The president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, has been indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing against civilians in Darfur. In his meeting with Putin, Sudan’s president said that his country needs protection from aggressive U.S. actions, and there was a discussion about the possibility of opening a Russian military base in Sudan. In his external politics, Putin is a child of the Soviet Union, which never missed an opportunity to take advantage of a conflict between a leader of a third world country and the U.S. The difference, however, is that the USSR had the goal of building socialist regimes, which Moscow was prepared to sponsor. Putin is more pragmatic — with the help of middle men like Prigozhin, he sees these conflicts as an opportunity to make a profit and gain access to Africa’s natural resources.
Why the world should care
Now it is clear without a doubt: if you want to understand where Vladimir Putin’s interests lie, you only need to look at what Evgeny Prigozhin is up to — he is the same kind of behind-the-scenes agent of Russian influence like Putin believes George Soros to be for the U.S.
https://thebell.io/en/vladimir-putin...hin-is-now-up/