Russia allies Turkey, Iran pledge support for Putin during Wagner Group coup crisis

Vladimir Putin’s closest allies on the world stage said they had his back Saturday before Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin called off his coup attempt — while Russia’s neighbors beefed up security along their shared borders, and China’s Xi Jinping remained silent.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey pledged “full support” for the embattled Russian leader in a phone call shortly after Putin vowed to “crush” what he called an “armed mutiny” in a speech early Saturday.

“The President of the Republic of Turkey expressed full support for the steps taken by the Russian leadership,” the Kremlin said in a readout of the call, CNN reported, while Erdogan’s office said he would assist in resolving the crisis “in a peaceful and calm way.”

Iran, too, affirmed support for Putin, as foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani told state media that the mullahs “support the rule of law in the Russian Federation.”

Meanwhile, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a key Putin ally, said he brokered the deal with Prigozhin to end the militia’s advance toward Moscow and enter negotiations with the Kremlin.

But two of Russia’s closest neighbors, Latvia and Estonia, announced they were taking immediate action to protect their citizens against any spillover from the rising rebellion.

Everything to know about the Wagner Group’s attack on Russia

Forces from Wagner Group, the private military contractor that had been fighting for the Kremlin in Ukraine, have reportedly crossed the border and stormed back into Russia, demanding the removal of the nation’s defense minister in the most serious threat to President Vladimir Putin’s authority since he took power in 2000.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, owner and founder of the mercenary organization, is calling for an armed rebellion and threatened to rush Moscow in order to oust the minister who he accused of ordering the bombing of his war camps in Ukraine.

Members of Congress ripped Prigozhin Saturday as a “would-be strongman” — with some claiming the “bloodthirsty” mercenary was possible “more dangerous” than Putin.

Putin’s presidential plane left Moscow early Saturday, sparking rumors that he had fled the Russian capital as the Wagner Group’s mercenary forces advanced on the city.

The president’s aircraft was spotted on flight radar flying northwest from Moscow to the St Petersburg area — but then disappeared from the system near the city of Tver, the BBC reported, where Putin owns a large rural retreat.

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Edgars Rinkevics, Latvia’s minister of foreign affairs, tweeted that his nation had sealed its border to all “Russians leaving Russia due to current events” — adding, “No direct threat to Latvia at this time.”

Estonia also announced it would add security forces along its border, as Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said she was in “close touch” with her counterparts in Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland — four of the nations that saw a rush of fleeing Russians when Putin expanded conscription into the armed forces last year.

The US’s Western allies took a wait-and-see approach to the crisis, with French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and others saying they were “monitoring the situation closely.”

“What we are witnessing is an internal Russian issue,” European Union spokesperson Nabila Massrali told CNN.