While Moscow lifts its restrictions and reaffirms that it is in a position to maintain the war in Ukraine, the mercenaries led by Yevgeny Prigozhin continue to withdraw, although the head of the Group remains unknown. In this scenario, and with the unknown of how much damage this rebellion of more than 24 hours has caused Putin, the United States, France, China and Venezuela, among others, spoke out.
According to local media reports, Yevgeny Prigozhin was seen this Saturday, June 24, leaving from the headquarters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don, more than 400 kilometers from the capital Moscow. However, his whereabouts are currently unknown, and the only certainty is that the defiant head of the Wagner Group must travel to Belarus, to take refuge, as a result of a negotiation mediated by the Executive of Alexander Lukashenko.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declared last night that the charges against Prigozhin would be dropped, although he did not give details about the concessions that Moscow would have granted him to ensure the cessation of the armed uprising that began on June 23.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has not offered any further comments related to the withdrawal of the Wagner Group from the military headquarters taken over by mercenaries in recent hours, although according to state media, Putin will meet with the Russian security council in the coming days. to discuss the objectives of the ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine, a situation that remains a priority for the Kremlin.
The political leaders of the Western bloc have been attentive to this internal security crisis, Putin’s most complex challenge in his two decades in power, which it would show the divisions between the Russian military high commands. Divisions Ukraine celebrates.
Blinken: Internal instability in Russia could last “months”
The US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, described the situation as “direct challenge to Putin’s authority” and expressed his distrust that the instability inside the Kremlin has ended with the withdrawal of Wagner’s fighters.
“We have seen more cracks appear in the Russian facade. It is too soon to know exactly where they are going and when they arrive. But certainly we have all kinds of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the coming weeks and months,” he said. to the American network ‘NBC’.
However, the US official described the act as “an internal matter” of the Russian state and was emphatic in clarifying that the main focus of the United States is to continue supporting Ukraine militarily: “Our attention is resolutely and relentlessly focused on Ukraine, ensuring that it has what it takes to defend itself and retake territory from Russia.”
All in all, the coup event led the US intelligence agencies to reveal that, based on their information, they suspected that the mercenary group would lead a possible revolt and for Washington its greatest concern was the question of who would take over. control of the Russian nuclear arsenal.
Spoke today with Polish Foreign Minister @RauZbigniew to discuss the ongoing situation in Russia. The United States will continue to closely coordinate with Allies and partners.
—Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) June 24, 2023
Europe, with its eyes on Russia
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron declared for its part that the Élysée Palace remains attentive to the development of the internal situation in Russia, although it agrees with the United States that its main interest is “continue support for Ukraine”.
On the other hand, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said his government has been monitoring “the potentially destabilizing effects of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine” and is keeping an eye on developments.
In the same vein, the office of Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, expressed that the insurrection of the Wagner Group against the high command in the Kremlin is only a result of the Russian intervention in Ukrainian territory.
“The prime minister is closely following developments in Russia, which show that her assault on Ukraine is causing instability within Russia,” the statement said.
For Zelensky the situation in Russia is “complete chaos”
In a post on Twitter, the Ukrainian president wrote that the uprising by mercenaries shows that “Russian leaders control nothing” and mentioned that the intervention of the Russian Armed Forces in Ukrainian territory only causes “devastation” inside Russia.
“The longer his troops remain on Ukrainian soil, the more devastation they will bring to Russia. The longer this person (Vladimir Putin) stays in the Kremlin, the more disasters there will be,” the Ukrainian president tweeted.
Today, the world saw that the bosses of Russia do not control anything. Nothing at all. Complete chaos. Complete absence of any predictability.
First, the world should not be afraid. We know what protects us. Our unity.
Ukraine will definitely be able to protect Europe from any…
— Volodimir Zelensky (@ZelenskyyUa) June 24, 2023
Despite everything, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, mentioned for the state news channel ‘Ukrinform’ that the Ukrainian troops could take advantage of the convulsive moment that Moscow is experiencing to gain ground in the war.
“Any chaos behind enemy lines favors our interests,” Kuleba said. Kiev’s top foreign affairs officer also spoke with Anthony Blinken to plan the future of the Ukrainian counter-offensive and how the events of the weekend could influence its operation.
China gives its support to the Kremlin, but rules out a possible intervention
After the Russian foreign ministry is to announce that its deputy foreign minister, Andrei Rudenko, had “high-level” talks with Chinese officials, the Kremlin’s foreign affairs body said China supports Russia’s efforts to maintain its security. national.
“The Chinese side expressed its support for the efforts of the leaders of the Russian Federation to stabilize the situation in the country in connection with the events of June 24 and confirmed its interest in strengthening Russia’s cohesion and prosperity,” the statement said. Russian Foreign Ministry in a public statement.
In Beijing, despite the fact that the Chinese Foreign Ministry had initially declared that Rudenko met with the head of Chinese diplomacy, Qin Gang, only to discuss “international and regional issues of common interest”, the body later said his support for Russia for its actions to “maintain its national stability”.
Beijing declared that the events of the weekend are “internal affairs” in which it will not intervene. A position similar to that taken by the Government of Israel which, as usual since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, remains elusive to take a side in the war.
“Although this was an internal Russian matter in which Israel was not involved, Israel will continue to closely monitor developments,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office wrote.
Words that the Ukrainian embassy in Tel-Aviv took advantage of to attack the Netanyahu government; from his point of view, Israel has “chosen the path of close cooperation with Russia.”
Support for Vladimir Putin from three Latin American countries
In other latitudes, the president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, described the withdrawal of mercenaries as a “victory” for Vladimir Putin and condemned the actions of the Wagner Group, which he described as “terrorist methods.”
“Vladimir Putin faced an attempted betrayal and a civil war, and at this moment he is victorious with Russia in peace,” said the Venezuelan president, who in turn reaffirmed his support for his Russian counterpart. “From Venezuela, all our support for President Vladimir Putin, brother of Venezuela,” Maduro concluded.
Finally, the presidents of Nicaragua and Cuba, Daniel Ortega and Miguel Díaz-Canel respectively, supported the Kremlin. The Cuban leader was more emphatic and expressed his solidarity with Putin “in the face of attempts to provoke an armed rebellion.”
With Reuters, AP and local media
