President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia held a prolonged assembly with Yevgeny V. Prigozhin and commanders of his Wagner non-public navy firm simply days after that they had launched a mutiny that put the nation on the point of a civil battle, the Kremlin disclosed on Monday.

Mr. Putin had denounced the leaders of the June 23-24 insurrection as traitors, so the startling revelation that he performed host to them on June 29 means that for all his bluster, he noticed a continued use for the mercenary group and its boss. The assembly is the primary identified contact between the 2 males for the reason that rebellion, which posed the most dramatic challenge to Mr. Putin’s authority in his 23 years in energy.

News of the assembly added to the thriller of what is going to develop into of Mr. Prigozhin and his pressure after the rebel. It stays unclear why a warlord together with his personal non-public military, who tried to depose the Russian navy management by pressure, has been allowed to stay within the nation, apparently unhindered, allegedly even returning to his hometown, St. Petersburg, to select up his confiscated weapons.

Mr. Putin invited 35 folks to the three-hour assembly, together with Mr. Prigozhin and all of Wagner’s prime commanders, and gave his evaluation of the corporate’s efforts on the battlefield in Ukraine, in addition to its actions within the mutiny, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov stated.

The Wagner fighters additionally supplied their rationalization of what had transpired, in accordance with Mr. Peskov, who instructed the gathering was an opportunity to clear the air and set a course going ahead. “Putin heard out the commanders and proposed further employment options and further combat options,” he stated.

The Wagner fighters pledged their loyalty to the Russian chief through the assembly, the Kremlin spokesman added.

“They emphasized that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and commander in chief — and also said they are prepared to fight for the country going forward,” he stated.

The image of Mr. Prigozhin and his prime lieutenants sitting peacefully at a desk with the Russian chief — simply days after Mr. Putin had vowed to crush their insurrection — contrasted with the broadly held picture of Mr. Putin as a ruthless authoritarian, adept at squelching threats to his rule.

It appeared to mirror a calculation by the Kremlin to keep away from totally eradicating an skilled preventing pressure with a well-liked following in the course of a expensive conflict. The Russian president, some analysts say, can also view the rebel as little greater than a factional feud that obtained uncontrolled. Mr. Prigozhin has stated he got down to topple the Russian navy management — to not problem Mr. Putin’s rule.

“I would not assume that Prigozhin is back into Putin’s best graces forever and nothing has happened. Something has happened. Conclusions have been drawn for now,” stated Alexander Gabuev, director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. “But just crushing them and crushing him at this point is for some reason disadvantageous, compared to keeping him afloat.”

Andrei Soldatov, a Russian safety providers skilled, stated Mr. Putin’s powerful speak about treachery had been aimed primarily on the Russian navy, to forestall any commanders from siding with the mutiny. Afterward, he stated, the president and Mr. Prigozhin “just made another deal.”

“We don’t know the terms,” Mr. Soldatov added. “But the understanding is they know each other, know what to expect from each other, thus they can still cooperate or work together.”

But the revolt put Mr. Putin’s vulnerability on world show, and the admission that he chatted with Wagner leaders dangers making him look weaker nonetheless.

Tatiana Stanovaya, founding father of the R.Politik political consultancy, stated the Kremlin presumably determined to reveal the assembly to calm a Russian elite that is still confused about what transpired — about whether or not Mr. Prigozhin is a “traitor or our guy.”

“It’s a signal to the elite that Prigozhin remains systemic,” Ms. Stanovaya stated. “Yes, he made a mistake, yes, this is a very serious crime. But due to the specifics of the situation, which is really very unique, Putin will give him the opportunity to survive.”

The mutiny uncovered Mr. Putin’s incapacity or unwillingness to cope with an influence wrestle that for months had raged within the open, with Mr. Prigozhin usually launching profanity-laced invective at Russia’s navy management on Telegram. Ms. Stanovaya, who can also be a senior fellow on the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, stated she suspected Mr. Putin felt a minimum of partly answerable for not higher managing the escalating feud.

“So for Putin, Prigozhin is of course a traitor, but he’s his traitor,” Ms. Stanovaya stated. “That is, a person who made a mistake out of stupidity, rather than out of malice.”

The Kremlin beforehand had been deflecting questions on Mr. Prigozhin’s standing and whereabouts.

On the day Mr. Putin and Mr. Prigozhin met, Mr. Peskov told reporters he didn’t know the place Mr. Prigozhin was. The following week, Mr. Peskov stated the Kremlin had neither the “ability nor the desire” to trace his actions.

But on Friday, the French newspaper Libération reported that Mr. Putin had met with Mr. Prigozhin and his Wagner commanders on the Kremlin to “negotiate the fate of his empire,” which embody a spread of enterprise ventures.

On Monday, Mr. Peskov confirmed that the assembly occurred, however added, “The details of it are unknown.”

Mr. Prigozhin’s forces have been essential to Russia’s conflict towards Ukraine, however final month the federal government ordered Wagner troops preventing there to affix the common navy. Facing a serious lack of energy, Mr. Prigozhin railed loudly towards the transfer, to no avail.

His fighters seized the southern Russian metropolis of Rostov-on-Don, and an essential Russian navy headquarters there, and staged a drive on Moscow that stopped inside 125 miles of the capital.

Mr. Putin warned in a nationwide deal with towards a descent into civil conflict, and stated the harshest punishment awaited those that had “consciously chosen the path of betrayal.”

But the punishment didn’t come.

Hours later, the Kremlin introduced a deal, allegedly brokered by the Belarusian chief Aleksandr G. Lukashenko: Mr. Prigozhin would stand down, keep away from prosecution and depart for Belarus. Wagner fighters who had participated within the mutiny would additionally keep away from punishment; those that didn’t take part could be given the possibility to signal Russian navy contracts.

Mr. Prigozhin and his males packed up and retreated.

The settlement outraged hard-line Russian commentators, who famous that the insurrectionists had shot down Russian plane, killing navy personnel.

In the times since, Mr. Prigozhin’s standing has been a thriller. He hasn’t made any public appearances. His firm has stopped posting responses to questions from the media. The man who stepped out of the shadows final yr to make a public title for himself has gone quiet, a minimum of briefly.

Perhaps the largest shock of all is that on the earth of Mr. Putin, the place these inflicting political issues have usually ended up imprisoned or killed, Mr. Prigozhin isn’t solely nonetheless alive however seems to be transferring freely round Russia.

Mr. Lukashenko stated days after the mutiny that Mr. Prigozhin had arrived in Belarus, however it’s not clear if that was true. Last week the Belarusian chief stated Mr. Prigozhin was in Russia — which U.S. officers confirmed — and was a “free man.”

On Thursday, Mr. Prigozhin was noticed arriving in a BMW 7-series sedan on the St. Petersburg headquarters of the F.S.B., a successor to the Soviet-era Ok.G.B., the place he collected weapons that the Russian authorities had seized from his nation home through the mutiny, the impartial news outlet Fontanka reported. Days earlier, Fontanka stated, one in every of his drivers had arrived to gather billions of rubles, a whole lot of hundreds of {dollars} and several other gold bars that Russian authorities had seized in automobiles parked at St. Petersburg lodges related to him.

Mr. Lukashenko stated simply after the rebellion that Wagner fighters, like their chief, could be welcome in Belarus. Last week, his authorities stated none had come, however that which may change.

A distinguished Wagner commander, Anton Yelizarov, who goes by the nom de guerre Lotos, gave an interview to a Russian conflict blogger on Friday, from southern Russia, through which he stated all Wagner fighters had been launched on break till early August — and instructed he was spending time together with his household by the ocean.

In the interview, posted on Telegram, Mr. Yelizarov stated Wagner would stand apart in Ukraine in the intervening time and had plenty of work to do to organize its “exit” to Belarus.

“There’s no clash with law enforcement agencies, the president guaranteed us that,” Mr. Yelizarov stated. “As for society and normal people, you can see for yourself: girls are walking around with patches that they coaxed off our guys, most likely for kisses. Boys are wearing T-shirts and hats with our logos. Little kids are playing war games, with the Ukrainians as the Germans and Wagner PMC fighters as the Red Army.”

He didn’t exclude the potential for the mercenary group turning into concerned once more in Ukraine. “Our armored train is in reserve, and we stand ready to come to the aid of our Motherland and our nation when the Russian people call us,” he stated.