Putin 'Can't Afford to Lose' Prigozhin: Ret. U.S. General

Russian President Vladimir Putin "can't afford to lose" Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin even after the private military company (PMC) led an uprising against the Kremlin's military leadership, retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Mark Hertling said.

Hertling spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper Monday evening following reports that Putin hosted a nearly three-hour meeting with the PMC leader just five days after Prigozhin's failed rebellion on June 24. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin "invited 35 people" to the meeting, all "commanders of the detachments and the management of the [Wagner Group], including Prigozhin himself."

The details of the lengthy meeting is unknown, adding to the list of questions following the 24-hour mutiny that Prigozhin said was a protest of the Russian military's actions in the Ukraine war. The Wagner leader halted his charge toward Moscow after striking a deal with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, which reportedly included him taking exile in Belarus.

According to Hertling, however, Putin's meeting with the same man whom he labeled a traitor less than a week prior to the meeting does not necessarily surprise the former U.S. general, who noted that the Wagner Group has operated in several countries on behalf of the Russian government for years.

"[Wagner troops] are in several continents, attacking in several countries; Syria, the Middle East, in Africa," Hertling told Cooper. "Mr. Putin can't afford to lose this guy. You would think that he would immediately have been put in jail because of the uprising in Ukraine and in Russia, but truthfully, he has such charisma and such sway over a large percentage of forces that's helping the Russian government in various countries that he couldn't afford to be cashiered."

"I don't have any classified intelligence, but I'm sure this meeting was an attempt to get [Prigozhin] back on board, while his forces, the Wagner forces, are being dispersed," Hertling continued. "And in fact, sort of broken up, being told, 'Hey, they got to join the Russian military or get away from the Wagner Group.' So there is confusion within that force."

Peskov claimed that during the meeting, the Wagner commanders said they were "staunch supporters of the head of state" and were "ready to continue fighting for the motherland." Former British defense attaché to Russia John Foreman also assessed on Monday that he believes the meeting with Prigozhin "was a medieval-style court ritual with the defeated Wagner mutineers bending the knee before their monarch, explaining that their grievance was not against him, and begging for clemency."

"In return, it allows Putin to appear magnanimous, to be above politics, and to draw a line behind Prigozhin's antics," Foreman added while speaking with Newsweek.

No matter the goal of the meeting, it's still unclear why the Kremlin is revealing that the meeting occurred, and there has been no clarity on the details of Prigozhin's peace deal reached with Lukashenko. As of last week, it was also unknown if the Wagner leader was still in Belarus or had returned to Russia.

Newsweek emailed the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday for comment.