The unprecedented challenge to Russian President Vladimir Putin by Wagner fighters has exposed fresh “cracks” in the strength of his leadership that may take weeks or months to play out, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says.
Key points:
- Antony Blinken says Russia’s internal turmoil could affect Moscow’s military capabilities in Ukraine
- Mr Blinken described the turmoil as an “internal affair” for Vladimir Putin
- US officials say their focus is on maintaining support to Ukraine
Mr Blinken and members of the US Congress said in a series of interviews on Sunday that the turmoil in Russia has weakened Mr Putin in ways that could aid Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces within its territory while benefiting Russia’s neighbours, including Poland and the Baltic states.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the final act,” Mr Blinken said in an interview after the aborted mutiny by forces led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Mr Blinken said tensions that sparked the action had been growing for months and added that the threat of internal turmoil could affect Moscow’s military capabilities in Ukraine.
“We’ve seen more cracks emerge in the Russian facade. It is too soon to tell exactly where they go, and when they get there,” Mr Blinken told NBC.
“But certainly, we have all sorts of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead,” he said.
Mr Blinken described the turmoil as an “internal matter” for Mr Putin.
“Our focus is resolutely and relentlessly on Ukraine, making sure that it has what it needs to defend itself and to take back territory that Russia seized,” Mr Blinken said.
US officials expect to learn more in coming days and weeks about the events that unfolded in Russia, including details of the deal with Mr Prigozhin mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that led Wagner fighters to return to their bases.
“It may be that Putin didn’t want to debase himself to the level of negotiating directly with Prigozhin,” Mr Blinken said.
Russia ‘distracted and divided’
Forces led by Mr Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and ex-convict, have fought the bloodiest of battles in Russia’s 16-month war in Ukraine.
“To the extent that the Russians are distracted and divided it may make their prosecution of aggression against Ukraine more difficult,” Mr Blinken said.
House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner said Mr Putin’s future actions in Ukraine could be inhibited by Mr Prigozhin’s assertion that the rationale for invading Ukraine was based on lies concocted by the Russian top brass.
“Taking down the very premise makes it much more difficult for Putin to continue to turn to the Russian people and say, we should continue to send people to die,” Mr Turner told CBS.
US Senator Ben Cardin said the weekend turmoil in Russia does not ease Washington’s need to continue aiding Ukraine as it launches its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia.
“This is a critical time for Ukraine. This counteroffensive is going to be defining as to where we’re going to be in the next year or two,” Mr Cardin, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News.
“So, it’s incredibly important that we maintain our support and not be fooled by what’s happening in Russia today as to the needs of the Ukrainians.”
Republican Representative Don Bacon, a former US Air Force General who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, told NBC that the weekend turmoil could leave Russia weaker for years, calling it a benefit to neighbouring countries including Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
“It would be different if Putin was wanting to be a peaceful neighbour, but he’s not,” Mr Bacon said.
Mr Blinken said neither the US nor Russian nuclear posture had changed as a result of the crisis, but added that US officials are monitoring Russia’s nuclear status “very, very carefully”.
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Reuters