NATO leaders have tracked the movements of Russian mercenaries fighting far from their borders in Ukraine. Now, some have grown uneasy about having members of the Wagner group on their doorstep.
On Wednesday, the leaders of Poland and Lithuania paid a visit to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv ahead of a NATO summit next month. They had seen Wagner troops stage an uprising over the weekend and march toward Moscow. Those fighters have now been offered the option of relocating to Belarus.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said, "We talked a lot about the latest situation with the Wagner group and about decisions that were made in Russia. We interpret them as something that calls for very close vigilance from NATO."
Zelenskyy had a different take. He said, "Our army thinks that the situation in our country's north -- due to the presence of Wagner mercenaries in Belarus -- hasn't changed, and that the situation is under control."
Zelenskyy has been pushing to have Ukraine join NATO. He says he understands his country cannot become a member while it is still at war. However, he wants to get some "signals" at the summit that Ukraine will become a member after the fighting is done.