PARIS: Countries around the world were on Saturday closely watching events unfolding in Russia, where a mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group posed the most serious challenge yet to President Vladimir Putin’s long rule. Governments and analysts are saying about the extraordinary situation taking place in nuclear-armed Russia.
The US President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation in Russia and Washington and “will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments”, National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said.
European Union chief Charles Michel tweeted that the bloc was “closely monitoring the situation in Russia as it unfolds. In touch with European leaders and G7 partners.”
“This is clearly an internal Russian issue,” he wrote, adding that “our support for Ukraine” remains “unwavering”.
The bloc’s diplomatic chief Josep Borrell said the EU was in “permanent contact with our ambassador in Moscow and continuing our internal consultations with our member states.”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged “all parties to be responsible and to protect civilians.”
“We’re in touch with our allies as the situation evolves. I’ll be speaking to some of them later today and the most important thing is for all parties to behave responsibly,” he said.
The Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, who has met Putin since the launch of the Ukraine war, warned of the nuclear risks of the instability in Russia.
“The operations of the Russian Federations are always of the utmost importance, because the Russian Federation has a great potential for biological, chemical and nuclear weapons,” he said.
The EU’s Borrell announced that foreign affairs ministers of the G7 nations held a call to “exchange views” on the situation on Saturday.
Borrell didn’t provide details of the exchange in his tweet, which Berlin also confirmed, saying German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock “just discussed the situation” with her G7 counterparts.
The UK Ministry of Defence said in an intelligence update that “this represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times.”
“Over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia’s security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how the crisis plays out,” it said.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War said the armed rebellion was “unlikely to succeed” but that “an armed Wagner attack against the Russian military leadership in Rostov-on-Don would have significant impacts on Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.”
— AFP
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