President Joe Biden said on Monday that the United States and its allies strongly communicated to the Kremlin that they were not involved in the short-lived mutiny in Russia this weekend by the Wagner mercenary group.
On Saturday, the private military company’s far-right leader Yevgeny Prigozhin led an armed rebellion focused on Russia’s military brass ― specifically Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ― accusing them of botching the war against Ukraine and attacking his fighters. The Kremlin has denied attacking Wagner fighters.
Wagner mercenaries who were fighting in Ukraine on behalf of Russia left to seize a military headquarters in Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia. Prigozhin, once a protege of Russian President Vladimir Putin, then led his uprising largely unopposed for hundreds of miles toward Moscow, before halting the march less than 24 hours later.
Biden told reporters on Monday that he has been in communication with U.S. allies and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to coordinate a response to the Wagner rebellion. He said he has asked his national security team to prepare for a “range of scenarios.”
“They agreed with me that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse ― let me emphasize, we gave Putin no excuse ― to blame this on the West, to blame this on NATO,” the president said. “We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it. This was part of a struggle within the Russian system.”
The Kremlin said Wagner soldiers halted the march after Moscow brokered a truce for Prigozhin to go into exile in Belarus and, along with his fighters, receive amnesty. There has been no confirmation of Prigozhin’s whereabouts, though the leader released an audio statement on Monday defending the uprising.
In the audio, Prigozhin pointed out the weaknesses in Russia’s military that allowed his fighters to march toward the Kremlin for 500 miles without facing resistance. The Wagner leader said his march was a “master class” on how Moscow should have invaded Ukraine last year.
Despite the Kremlin saying it has dismissed charges against Prigozhin as part of the truce, Russian media reported that the criminal case against the leader is still open. And while the mutiny was quick, the incident could have longer-term consequences for the war in Ukraine and the future of Putin’s power.
“It’s still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going. The ultimate outcome of all this remains to be seen,” Biden said, adding that the U.S. and its allies will continue to support Ukraine “no matter what happened in Russia.”