Photo: ROMAN ROMOKHOV/AFP/Getty Images
The events that provoked a crisis in Russia for the past two days they have the president’s cabinet officials Joe Biden rushing to understand What does the withdrawal of the Wagner Group towards Belarus mean? for the chances of Ukraine in its war against Russia, according to Politico.
The crisis in Russia erupted on Friday when Prigozhin accused the Russian army of attacking a Wagner camp and killing his men, vowing to retaliate with force.
Mercenaries from Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group had seized Russia’s war-in-Ukraine command center in Rostov on Don as a column headed north toward the Kremlin in the early hours of Saturday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the uprising started last night by Prigozhin as “treason” and assured, in a message to the nation on public television, that those responsible “will pay for it.”
But Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko apparently brokered a deal that saw the Wagner Group’s military return to unspecified “campaign grounds” rather than seek the ouster of Russia’s military leadership.
In the hours before the dramatic change, when it appeared the mercenaries were planning an urban combat in Moscow, US officials engaged in multiple meetings on Friday and Saturday. to assess the impact that the rapid development of this crisis could cause in Russia.
They reached a preliminary consensus that the insurrection of Wagner’s mercenary group would occupy the attention of the Kremlin. And that could provide Ukraine with a much-needed chance to turn the tide of their counteroffensive.
Biden met with senior US defense commanders.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed on the crisis in Russia on Saturday by Cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, on the progress of the Wagner Group prior to Prigozhin’s withdrawal.
Biden also spoke on Saturday about the situation in Russia with President Emmanuel Macron of France, Foreign Minister Olaf Scholz of Germany and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom, according to a White House statement.
Besides, Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Foreign Minister of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba. “Ukraine remains focused on achieving the objectives of its counteroffensive on the territory of Ukraine with the strong support of our American allies,” Kuleba said in a tweet on Saturday.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin planned to speak with Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov later on Saturday.
The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, also spoke in a phone call this Saturday with the foreign ministers of the G7 and the European Union (EU). to discuss “the current situation in Russia” after the declaration of armed rebellion by Wagner’s mercenaries against Moscow and to reiterate US support for Ukraine.
“Secretary Blinken spoke today with the Foreign Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy to discuss the current situation in Russia,” he noted. in a statement State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
In this conversation, Blinken “reiterated that US support for Ukraine will not change.”
“The United States will remain in close coordination with allies and partners as the situation continues to develop,” the statement said.
Keep reading:
– Russia: 5 keys to understanding the challenge of the Wagner Group to Putin by sending his troops to Moscow
– Russia: the leader of the Wagner Group stops the advance of his troops towards Moscow and moves to Belarus, according to the Kremlin
– Putin, under pressure: were the actions of the Wagner Group in Russia a coup attempt?