Biden said that the United States was not involved in Prigozhin’s rebellion

Joe Biden, speaking on Monday at the White House, publicly commented on the latest events in Russia for the first time. He stated that the USA was not involved in the mutiny of the head of the Russian PMC “Wagner” Evgeny Prigozhin.

“This is part of the struggle within the Russian system,” the American president emphasized, adding that he had been following what was happening in Russia and had discussed it online with key US allies. Together, they decided that it was “early to draw conclusions” about what happened. “The final result of all this is yet to be seen,” summed up Biden.

On June 23, Evgenia Prigozhin and the private military company “Wagner” subordinate to him launched an armed rebellion against the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, the department’s plans to disband the PMC, and also with the aim of bringing to justice those who, by their actions, committed a lot of mistakes during the war in Ukraine. A column of several thousand armed “Wagnerovites” entered Rostov-on-Don, the second column moved to Moscow. In a day, the fighters managed to walk 780 kilometers, and in fact did not meet any resistance. At the same time, several helicopters and one plane of the Ministry of Defense, which, according to Prigozhin, were trying to bomb the convoy were shot down. The crews of the ships died. Vladimir Putin accused the PMC of treason, and a criminal case of armed rebellion was initiated against the head of the company.

By the evening of June 24, it became known about the negotiations between Prigozhin and the authoritarian leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. As a result of these consultations, the advance of the “Wagner” columns towards Moscow was stopped. Prigozhin said that his soldiers “are going in the opposite direction to the field camps, because it became obvious that a lot of blood will be shed.” Later, he said that “Wagner’s” columns “went to demonstrate their protest, not to overthrow the government.”

According to Putin’s press secretary Dmytro Peskov, units of PMC “Wagner” will be allowed to return to their original positions, and Yevgeny Prigozhin will be able to leave for Belarus.