President Joe Biden on Monday said that neither the US nor NATO were involved in the brief rebellion in Russia that was led by the Wagner mercenary group, describing the uprising and the longer-term threats it poses to President Vladimir Putin’s authority as a struggle within the Russian system.
The astonishing rebellion led by the mercenaries poses the largest challenge to Putin in his 20 years as Russian president.
Biden and US partners who are aiding Ukraine in its battle against Russia’s invasion stressed their intention to be viewed as staying out of it. They worry that Putin would use allegations of collaboration by the West to mobilise Russians in support of him.
Biden and administration officials declined an immediate assessment of what the 22-hour uprising by the Wagner Group might mean for Russia’s war in Ukraine, for mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin or for Russia itself.
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.
Putin, in his first public comments since the rebellion, blamed Russia’s enemies and said they miscalculated. He did not specify whom he meant.
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, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller 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, Miller said.
In a video call between Biden and leaders of US-allied countries over the weekend, all were determined to give Putin no excuse to blame this on the West,” Biden told reporters at the White House.
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 campaigns by democracy activists inside and outside 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 destabilise Putin, McFaul said.
With inputs from agencies
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
0 Comments: