Putin sends plane to Washington DC to retrieve ‘key diplomats’ days after failed Wagner coup
Russia has sent a government jet to Washington DC to return a group of diplomats to Moscow days after the Wagner group mutiny was crushed.
The State Department confirmed the landing of the plane and said it was routine procedure – to remind Russia they expect to follow the same protocols for returning US diplomats.
But the move comes amid deep unease over this weekend’s uprising led by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, and will give Moscow officials a chance to hear from returning diplomats how events were viewed in the United States.
The plane, an Ilyushin Il-96-300, took off from Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport at 10:05 a.m. on Tuesday.
It flew a circuitous route, straight north to bypass EU airspace before crossing the Atlantic.
It landed at Dulles Airport in Washington D.C. at 2:08 p.m., after an 11-hour journey.
This is the Russian government plane, an Ilyushin Il-96-300, sent from Moscow to pick up diplomats in Washington DC. It landed in the US on Tuesday afternoon and remained on the tarmac of Dulles airport on Tuesday evening
The aircraft flew a highly unusual route, avoiding EU airspace. A standard flight path is shown with the dotted line
A spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed the flight to i News.
“The US government has allowed the Russian government to send a charter flight to the United States to transport the Russian diplomats whose assignment has been terminated to Russia.
“We also maintain strict reciprocity with Russia regarding special transport missions.”
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller later told reporters, “In exchange for extending these courtesies, we expect Russia to remain open for the transportation of our diplomats and cargo to our embassy in Moscow.”
The aircraft has a capacity, when configured for the maximum number of seats, for 262 people.
It is not known how many have entered and how many have exited.
A former US intelligence agent told i News the plane could also contain intelligence agents, who may want to meet with their US counterparts.
The intelligence official, who spent decades identifying Russian agents for the US government, told the site that “if necessary,” the Russian diplomats would schedule “high-level diplomatic meetings” with the US State Department.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” the former US asset said.
Vladimir Putin is seen on Tuesday meeting with officers of the Russian army and secret services who prevented Wagner’s invasion
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the military company Wagner Group
Members of the Wagner Group military company sit on a tank in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on Saturday – the day after the city’s capture. They left on Sunday
The plane has been flying to Asia for the past week, landing in Delhi at the same time as India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was being celebrated at the White House by Joe Biden.
India remains a crucial trading partner for Russia, but it was hoped that Modi’s visit would reduce India’s dependence on Moscow for weapons, economic ties and technology.
It also aimed to convince the Indian government to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
India has so far avoided voting against Russia or criticizing Vladimir Putin since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The plane was also in Vietnam last week ahead of a scheduled visit by the head of Russia’s parliament, the State Duma.
Volodin Vyacheslav Victorovich was supposed to be in Vietnam for the weekend, but his trip was cut short because of the Wagner Rebellion.
Putin is seen with State Duma Chairman Volodin Vyacheslav Victorovich in 2017. The powerful politician was supposed to be in Vietnam this weekend and the government plane was in Hanoi in the days before the aborted uprising
Vietnam depends on Russia for much of its military equipment, and Russia has significant energy investments in Vietnam.
But the US is trying to encourage international condemnation of the Ukraine invasion. Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, was in Vietnam in April.
The dust on Prigozhin’s shocking move to march across Russia to Moscow has yet to settle.
The militia leader is reportedly now in exile in Belarus, and analysts note that it is remarkable that he managed to survive.
Putin is widely seen as severely weakened by the aborted uprising, but it is unclear how this will affect the conflict in Ukraine.