US President Joe Biden visited Ukraine, speaking with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy days before the one year anniversary of Russia's invasion.
Video / AP
President Joe Biden declared Monday the United States and NATO played no part in the Wagner mercenary group’s short-lived insurrection in Russia, calling the uprising and the challenges it poses to President Vladimir Putin’s power “a struggle within the Russian system.”
Biden and US allies — including other nations united in support of Ukraine in its response to Russia’s invasion — showed clear resolve to be seen as staying out of Putin’s many troubles with the mutiny, concerned that he could use accusations of Western involvement in the uprising to rally Russians to his defense.
President Joe Biden. Photo / AP
Over the course of a tumultuous weekend in Russia, US diplomats were in contact with their counterparts in Moscow to underscore that the American government regarded the matter as a domestic affair for Russia, with the US only a bystander, an official familiar with those discussions said.
The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said American diplomats also stressed to Moscow that they expected Russia to ensure the safety of the US Embassy in Moscow and Americans detained in Russia.
Men from the Wagner Group military company sit on a tank, as locals pose for a photo prior to the group leaving Rostov-on-Don. Photo / AP Photo
Biden said he held a video call with allies over the weekend and they were all in determined to give Putin “no excuse to blame this on the West”.
“We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it,” Biden said. “This was part of a struggle within the Russian system.”
Michael McFaul, a former US ambassador to Russia, said that Putin in the past has alleged clandestine US involvement in events — including democratic uprisings in former Soviet countries, and democracy protests within Russia — as a way to diminish public support among Russians for those challenges to the Russian system.
The US and NATO “don’t want to be blamed for the appearance of trying to destabilize Putin”, McFaul said.
Vladimir Putin addresses the nation in Moscow after mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin called for armed rebellion. Photo / AP
Biden also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend and said he intended to speak with him again.
“I told him that no matter what happened in Russia, let me say again, no matter what happened in Russia, we in the United States would continue to support Ukraine’s defence and sovereignty and its territorial integrity.”
A feud between the Wagner Group leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and Russia’s military brass that has festered throughout the war erupted into a mutiny that saw the mercenaries leave Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city. They rolled for hundreds of kilometres toward Moscow, before turning around after less than 24 hours on Saturday.
Both Prigozhin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made public comments Monday aiming to play down the crisis.
In an 11-minute audio statement, Prigozhin said he acted “to prevent the destruction of the Wagner private military company” and moved in response to an attack on a Wagner camp that killed some 30 of his fighters.
Biden said much remains in flux in the aftermath of the most significant challenge to Putin’s authority during his long tenure.
“We’re going to keep assessing the fallout of this weekend’s events and the implications from Russia and Ukraine,” Biden said. “But it’s still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going.”
