The head of Britain’s intelligence agency, MI6, said on Wednesday that President Vladimir V. Mr Putin said last month that during Mr Prigozhin’s failed coup, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny V. Prigogine said he had “cut a deal” with them.
The comments by Richard Moore, the head of MI6, in a rare speech at an event hosted by Politico in Prague last month, echoed Mr. They offer insights from a Western intelligence officer into Prigozhin’s spectacular but short-lived coup.
The Wagner leader staged a coup against the Russian military last month that saw his mercenaries march on the capital, which was abruptly halted. Two weeks later, the Kremlin revealed that Mr Prigozhin and other Wagner leaders had met with Mr Putin for three hours in the days after the coup ended.
“I think he probably feels under some pressure,” Mr. Moore said. Mr Putin was speaking at the British Ambassador’s residence in the Czech capital. “Prigozhin was his creature, completely created by Putin, and he turned on him. He didn’t really fight Prigozhin; he made a deal to save his own skin using the good offices of the leader of Belarus.
Mr Moore reflected on the dizzying nature of the sudden march of Wagner’s troops towards Moscow, the speed with which they stopped and Mr Prigozhin’s – until now – escaping the grim fate of many Kremlin critics.
“Prigozin started out as a traitor at breakfast that day, he was pardoned at supper, and then a few days later, he was invited to tea,” Mr Moore told the audience. “So, there are some things that even the head of MI6 finds a bit difficult to try and decipher, who’s in and who’s out.”
Last week, Mr Putin said Wagner’s forces could continue to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, but without their leaders.
“He’s clearly under pressure,” Mr. Moore said of Mr. Putin. “You don’t have a bunch of mercenaries, lead the motorway towards Rostov and if you don’t quite anticipate that it’s going to happen within 125 kilometers of Moscow.”
Mr Moore was not the only British official to weigh in on the situation on Wednesday. Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum, Britain’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverley said, “No matter how Putin tries to spin it, an attempted coup is never a good look.”
Julian Barnes Contributed reporting from Aspen, Colorado.
