On June 27, Mr. Lukashenko said that Prigozhin, the head of the private military corporation Wagner Group, had arrived in Belarus as part of an agreement to end the crisis on June 24.

However, on Thursday, Mr. Lukashenko revealed to reporters: “As for Prigozhin, he is currently in St. Petersburg (Russia's second largest city). He is no longer on the territory of Belarus.”

According to flight tracking data, a commercial plane linked to Mr. Prigozhin left St. Petersburg for Moscow on Wednesday, and then flew to southern Russia on Thursday. However, it is unclear whether the mercenary group leader was on board.

President Lukashenko said the proposal to allow Wagner to deploy some fighters in Belarus, which has worried neighboring NATO countries, is still valid.

He also said he did not consider them a risk to Belarus, and did not believe Wagner's soldiers would turn against his country.

President Lukashenko has spoken proudly of his role in ending the mutiny, which President Vladimir Putin has said could have plunged Russia into civil war. Last week, President Lukashenko said he had advised Putin not to “wipe out” Prigozhin.

It remains unclear what terms of the deal Mr Lukashenko brokered, and whether it was implemented as agreed. Russian state television strongly condemned Prigozhin on Wednesday, and said an investigation into what happened was still underway.

Nguyen Quang Minh

(According to Reuters)