Biden says the US and NATO had no involvement in the Wagner group insurrection in Russia

President Joe Biden declared Monday the United States and NATO played no part in the Wagner mercenary group’s short-lived insurrection in Russia, calling the uprising and the challenges it poses to President Vladimir Putin’s power “a struggle within the Russian system.”

Biden and U.S. allies — including other nations united in support of Ukraine in its response to Russia’s invasion — showed clear resolve to be seen as staying out of Putin’s many troubles with the mutiny, concerned that he could use accusations of Western involvement in the uprising to rally Russians to his defense.

Over the course of a tumultuous weekend in Russia, U.S. 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 U.S. only a bystander, an official familiar with those discussions said.

The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said American diplomats also stressed to Moscow that they expected Russia to ensure the safety of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and Americans detained in Russia.

Biden said he held a video call with allies over the weekend, and they were all in determined to give Putin “no excuse to blame this on the West.” “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 U.S. ambassador to Russia, said that Putin in the past has alleged clandestine U.S. involvement in events — including democratic uprisings in former Soviet countries, and democracy protests within Russia — as a way to diminish public support among Russians for those challenges to the Russian system.

The U.S. and NATO “don’t want to be blamed for the appearance of trying to destabilize Putin,” McFaul said.

Biden also spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy over the weekend and said he intended to speak with him again late Monday or early Tuesday.

“I told him that no matter what happened in Russia, let me say again, no matter what happened in Russia, we in the United States would continue to support Ukraine’s defense and sovereignty and its territorial integrity.”

A feud between the Wagner Group leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and Russia’s military brass that has festered throughout the war erupted into a mutiny that saw the mercenaries leave Ukraine to seize a military headquarters in a southern Russian city. They rolled for hundreds of kilometers toward Moscow, before turning around after less than 24 hours on Saturday.

Both Prigozhin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made public comments Monday aiming to play down the crisis.

In an 11-minute audio statement, Prigozhin said he acted “to prevent the destruction of the Wagner private military company” and moved in response to an attack on a Wagner camp that killed some 30 of his fighters.

Biden said much remains in flux in the aftermath of the most significant challenge to Putin’s authority during his long tenure.

“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.”

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