Venezuela, Nicaragua express solidarity with Russia amid Wagner group tension

By Sinan Dogan

BOGOTA (AA) - Venezuela and Nicaragua expressed solidarity Saturday with Russia amid its tension with the Wagner group.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry expressed “its absolute support” for Russian President Vladimir Putin and conveyed “its solidarity with the Russian people in the face of this attack against peace, stability and solid democracy in this sister country.”

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro “strongly condemns the irrational threat of the Wagner group and its leader Yevgueni Prigozhin to promote an armed insurrection in the Russian Federation, through terrorist methods,” it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega also reacted to the actions by Wagner, noting his support and solidarity with Putin.

Wagner accused Russian forces of attacking its fighters Friday and the group subsequently crossed from Ukraine into the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.

In response, the Federal Security Service in Russia initiated a criminal case against Wagner for "armed mutiny." Russian President Vladimir Putin labeled Wagner's uprising as an act of "treason."

Prigozhin said his fighters would proceed to Moscow, prompting the Kremlin to enhance security measures across various regions of the country.

He later claimed his fighters decided to turn back to avoid bloodshed when they were 200 kilometers (124 miles) from Moscow, while Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said he held talks with the Wagner head with Putin's accord, and Prigozhin accepted a de-escalation deal.