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In a round of interviews on national television, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Ukraine can take “advantage” of the Wagner group’s attack on the Russian government.
The attempted uprising by the leader of the group of military mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, against Vladimir Putin’s military leadership represents an opportunity for the Ukrainian counteroffensive, Blinken said.
“To the extent that Russia is now distracted, that (Vladimir) Putin has to worry about what’s going on inside Russia as much as he has to worry about what he’s unsuccessfully trying to do in Ukraine, I think that creates a added advantage for the Ukrainians,” Blinken said in an interview with CNN.
Secretary Blinken’s position was similar on CBS and ABC, occurring before a phone call between President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky.
“President Biden spoke today with President Zelensky of Ukraine to discuss support for Ukraine as it fends off Russian aggression,” the White House said. “They discussed the ongoing Ukraine counteroffensive, and President Biden reaffirmed America’s unwavering support, including through security, economic and humanitarian aid.”
Blinken pointed out that the fact that President Putin has “someone from the inside who directly questions” his authority and “the premises on which he launched this aggression against Ukraine”, that, “in itself, is a very powerful thing.”
All of this despite the fact that it remains to be seen “how it will lead to” what happened, which began on Friday night, when the soldiers of the Wagner Group launched a military uprising and, after declaring themselves in absentia, occupied the city of Rostov on the Don and they sent four columns towards Moscow.
One day later, the leader of the Wagner group himself announced his withdrawal, after the mediation of the Belarusian leader, Alekandr Lukashenko, and the return of his fighters to the permanent bases. Following an agreement with the Kremlin, Prigozhin moved to Belarus and there can be no charges against him.
“Sixteen months ago, Russian forces were at the gates of Kiev, Ukraine, thinking they were going to take the city in a matter of days, wipe the country off the map,” Blinken noted, while now “they must focus on defending Moscow against the mercenaries created by Putin himself”.
“This raises many deep questions that I think will be answered in the coming days and weeks,” said the head of US diplomacy.
When news of Wagner’s rebellion broke, the White House reported that it was closely monitoring the situation. In fact, detailed Blinken, on Saturday President Joe Biden convened his National Security Cabinet and spoke with several leaders of allied countries.
“He directed us to focus on engaging all our allies and partners to make sure we were closely coordinated and keeping the focus where it belongs: on Ukraine, on the efforts they are making to take back the territory that Russia has taken from them,” he claimed.
The White House reported yesterday in a statement that Biden had spoken by phone with the leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom to discuss the situation in Russia.
For his part, the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J. Austin III, held another phone call with his counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Poland and the United Kingdom.
With information from EFE
Keep reading:
• Ukraine believes that Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, “humiliated” Vladimir Putin
• Russia: 5 keys to understanding the challenge of the Wagner Group to Putin by sending its 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