President Biden said Monday he was briefed “hour by hour” on the weekend revolt by the Wagner mercenary group in Russia and it is too early to tell where the situation will lead as Russian President Vladimir Putin contends with the fallout.
Mr. Biden said he convened a Zoom conference with allies to make sure everyone was on the same page. He wanted to make sure that Mr. Putin did not blame the stunning challenge to his leadership on NATO or the U.S.
“We made clear that we were not involved. We had nothing to do with it,” Mr. Biden said at the start of a White House event on internet access. “This was part of a struggle within the Russian system.”
Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the powerful Wagner Group and formerly a key figure in the highest level of military circles in Moscow, launched an armed rebellion aimed at toppling the leadership of Russia’s embattled Defense Ministry.
Their forces marched into Rostov-on-Don, a major city, but called off plans to march on Moscow after reaching an amnesty deal that would send Mr. Prigozhin to Belarus. While Mr. Putin averted a direct coup, the episode pierced the veil of absolute power around the longtime Russian leader as he wages war on Ukraine.
“We’re going to keep assessing the fallout of this weekend’s events and the implications for Russia and Ukraine,” Mr. Biden said. “It’s still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going.”
Mr. Biden said he spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to affirm that no matter what happens in Russia, the U.S. will continue to support its defense against invading Russian forces.
The president said he would remain in constant contact with allies as the situation unfolds.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the U.S. also used diplomatic channels to let Moscow know it considered the Wagner revolt an “internal Russian matter.”
He declined to say whether the U.S. considered it to be an attempted coup or mutiny — or if it deserved some other label.
“We’re not slapping a bumper sticker on it,” Mr. Kirby said.
It is unclear where Wagner goes from here, Mr. Kirby said, and he said he does not know the actual location of Mr. Prigozhin.
“What we’ve got to do is not get distracted by that and make sure that we’re focused on supporting Ukraine,” Mr. Kirby said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.