Putin expects private military companies to become government contractors. Prigozhin says Wagner Group won’t do it.

President Vladimir Putin says it’s time to legalize Russia’s private military companies, in accordance with “common sense, existing practices, and the law.” The president expects Russia’s PMCs to become government contractors “as soon as possible.”

During a meeting with war bloggers, Putin said this is the only way the government can offer social guarantees for the mercenaries, “because if there’s no contract with the state and the Defense Ministry, there’s no legal basis for social guarantees from the state.” “This needs to be done as soon as possible,” Putin said about the PMC reform.

The president noted that “certain changes” will be made to the Russian laws to help legalize the so-called “volunteer formations.”

Earlier, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu issued an order for private military companies to sign contracts with the Defense Ministry. In response, Wagner Group’s founder Evgeny Prigozhin said that his mercenaries won’t sign any contracts with the government, inviting all mercenaries currently serving in other PMCs to join Wagner forces if they don’t like the idea of signing a contract with the Defense Ministry.