German FM postpones visit to South Africa amid Russia events: Reports
The recent events in Russia pushed the German FM to postpone her trip to South Africa to a later date.
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Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock addresses the opening session on the first day of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London, Wednesday, June 21, 2023. (AP)
Due to recent developments in Russia, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock postponed her travel to South Africa for a later date, cutting it by one day, German media reported on Sunday.
"The minister had postponed her planned departure for South Africa by one day to attend a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Monday morning given the latest developments in Russia," a German Foreign Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by German news agency DPA.
Baerbock now expects to go to South Africa on Monday afternoon, thus the meetings arranged for Monday in Cape Town have been canceled, according to media reports.
President Vladimir #Putin vowed on Saturday to crush the armed mutiny of #WagnerGroup's chief Yevgeny #Prigozhin after the latter claimed that he had taken control of a southern city in #Russia. pic.twitter.com/9e8rLlIqEY
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) June 24, 2023
According to media reports, the minister will co-chair a meeting of the biennial German-South African Binational Commission on Tuesday in Pretoria, South Africa, with South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor.
Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a televised address on Saturday to the nation in which he branded the Wagner Group PMC's conduct as an armed rebellion and treason and warned of harsh penalties against the insurgents.
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Later in the day, the Belarusian presidential office said that Prigozhin had accepted Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's proposal to stop the movement of Wagner troops in Russia and to take further steps to de-escalate the situation.
Prigozhin later confirmed the information, saying that the Wagner troops were returning to their field camps.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Saturday evening that the criminal case against Prigozhin had been abandoned and that he would leave for Belarus under Putin's assurances.
