Morning Joe discussed the Washington Post story about Ukraine and the Wagner Group.
“You heard the news, it’s pretty shocking. Ahead of an anticipated counteroffensive by Ukraine against Russian forces, the Washington Post this morning reporting the head of the Wagner group made an extraordinary offer,” Joe Scarborough said.
“It was this, quote, if Ukraine’s commanders withdrew their forces from around Bakhmut — that’s where his forces were getting slaughtered by Ukraine — he would give Kyiv information on Russian troop positions, which Ukraine could use to attack them. He was going to give up Russian positions so those soldiers could be killed.
“According to the Post, the offer was conveyed by the Wagner Group’s leader, according to contacts in Ukraine’s military intelligence with whom he has maintained secret communications during the course of the war, according to previously unreported U.S. intelligence documents. NBC News hasn’t reviewed the documents in question. But this has been coming for quite some time, a rift between the Wagner chief and Vladimir Putin. This shows how divided Putin’s inner circle is right now.”
“With friends like Yevgeny Prigozhin, you don’t need enemies. I think Prigozhin’s days are numbered at this level. What he is doing, in a Mafia context, he is ratting out. He is going to find himself at the bad end of a bomb or a cup of poisoned tea before too much longer. That’s good news for Ukraine and good news for the West,” former Admiral James Stavridis said.
“And Joe, if you look at how this spring offensive is going to go, I think it’ll start in the days or weeks ahead, certainly. Weather looks good. The tanks are flowing in, the training, the morale. I think the Ukrainians are going to have a very good spring, and these two scorpions in a bottle, the Wagner Group and the Russian military, that’s got to be keeping Putin awake at night.”
