Yevgeny Prigozhin - boss of the Wagner paramilitary group (Photo: Twitter).
According to the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW), Wagner's proposal appears to show that he has found allies in the Russian Defense Ministry willing to support a temporary freeze of the military campaign in Ukraine.
In early April, Prigozhin publicly resumed cooperation with the Russian Defense Ministry and appeared to have regained some credibility with the Kremlin after months of disagreement with the Russian military command, ISW analysts said.
ISW believes that by doing this, Mr. Prigozhin wants to regain the ability to build up his forces and expand his political prospects before the parliamentary and presidential elections in Russia.
According to ISW, Mr. Prigozhin's gloomy predictions about the time it would take for Russia to control the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine were part of an effort to persuade Moscow to cease fire and temporarily freeze the military campaign in Ukraine.
ISW experts also pointed out that Mr. Prigozhin was recently said to be supporting efforts to calm the war in Ukraine.
“This allegation could also indicate that Prigozhin has found backers, possibly linked to Russian Defense Ministry officials, who favor a temporary freeze on the war in Ukraine for political reasons,” the ISW report said.
“A temporary ceasefire in Ukraine and a prolonged war would only benefit Russia by allowing it to rebuild its forces and weaken Western support for Ukraine. Russia would use the territories it has controlled in Ukraine as a springboard for future offensive operations after restoring its combat capabilities,” ISW concluded.
The Kremlin and Wagner have not yet commented on the above assessment.
Earlier, on April 14, Wagner boss unexpectedly called on Russia to stop the special military operation that has lasted for more than a year in Ukraine. "In the interests of the Russian government and in the interests of the whole society, it is necessary to completely end the special military operation," Mr. Prigozhin wrote.
According to the Wagner group leader, the ideal option would be to declare the end of the special military operation and announce that Russia has achieved its goals. "In a sense, we have actually achieved this result. We have eliminated a large number of Ukrainian armed forces and can report to ourselves that our mission has been accomplished," Prigozhin said.
He pointed out that Moscow should focus on controlling the territories it has won in Ukraine. According to him, Russia has taken control of the Sea of Azov and a large part of the Black Sea, and has seized a large part of Ukraine's territory to create a land corridor to Crimea.
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