President of Russia has held Kremlin talks with Wagner mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and his commanders to discuss the armed mutiny Wagner attempted to mount against the army"s top brass, Vladimir Putin’s spokesman said.

The meeting was first reported by French newspaper Liberation, which said Prigozhin had met Putin and the head of the National Guard, Viktor Zolotov, and SVR Foreign Intelligence boss Sergei Naryshkin.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov , the meeting was held on June 29, which is widely regarded to have posed the most serious challenge to Putin since he came to power on the last day of 1999.

“The President had invited 35 people to the meeting, including Prigozhin and Wagner unit commanders, and that the meeting had lasted 3 hours. The only thing we can say is that the president gave his assessment of the company’s (Wagner’s) actions at the front during the Special Military Operation (in Ukraine) and also gave his assessment of the events of 24 June (the day of the mutiny).

Putin had listened to the commanders’ own explanations of what had happened and had offered them further options for employment and combat.

The commanders outlined their version of what happened (on June 24). They emphasised that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the supreme commander-in-chief. They also said that they are ready to continue fighting for the Motherland”, - said Dmitri Peskov.