US spoke to Russian counterparts to discuss security concerns during Wagner revolt, says White House

The White House on Monday released a statement saying that the US diplomats spoke to their Russian counterparts and discussed the security concerns involved during the revolt by the mercenary group Wagner.

The mutiny by Wagner's chief Yevgeny Prigozhin prompted this rare contact between Russia and the United States. The revolt had briefly taken control of a major city and had also threatened to attack Moscow. The turmoil ignited fears in Washington that nuclear-armed Russia could plunge into chaos.

"Instability in Russia is something that, you know, we take seriously and we certainly had lots of questions over the course of the weekend," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said when asked about fears over turmoil in nuclear-armed Russia.

"We did have and were able to have in real-time -- through diplomatic channels -- conversations with Russian officials about our concerns," he said.

Kirby further stated that United States officials continue to monitor Moscow's nuclear posture "very closely" during the invasion by Russian troops of pro-Western Ukraine.

So far there is "no indication" that Russian President Vladimir Putin is moving in the "direction" of using nuclear weapons or "anything that will cause us to change our own deterrent posture," Kirby said.

West 'had nothing to do' with Russia's Wagner revolt, says Biden

United States President Joe Biden, on Monday (June 26), said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has “no excuse” to blame the Wagner group’s aborted march on Washington and that the West had “had nothing to do” with it. This comes as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly said that the country’s intelligence services are in the midst of investigating if Western spy agencies played a role in the Wagner mutiny.

Addressing a press conference, on Monday, the US president spoke about how when the revolt began he spoke to his key allies about the situation which was unfolding in Russia at the time. “I also convened our key allies on a Zoom call,” said Biden. He added, “They agreed that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse...to blame this on the West and to blame this on NATO.”

The US president also said that the turmoil was “part of the struggle within the Russian system.” This comes after mercenary group Wagner’s chief Yevgeny Prigozhin declared an armed rebellion in Russia with Putin saying that he is determined to quash the said revolt, which claimed to have seized control of the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, on Saturday.

In a brief statement, the White House, on Saturday said that Biden held a call with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to discuss the “situation in Russia” and “affirmed their unwavering support for Ukraine".

Furthermore, the US president also said that it’s “too early” to draw any definitive conclusions on “where this is going.” He added, “We’re going to keep assessing the fallout of this weekend’s events and the implications for Russia and Ukraine.”

However, Biden also stressed that his key Western allies are in touch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and they will “continue to support Ukraine’s defence and sovereignty and its territorial integrity.” The US president also said that he will be calling key allies again Monday without mentioning who would be a part of this meeting.

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION LIVE HERE