United States President Joe Biden has said that Washington and NATO had no involvement in an armed uprising against the Kremlin incited by Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Wagner Group of mercenaries. Speaking on Monday, Biden said he has spoken with key allies in the wake of the events. They agreed it was important to give Russian President Vladimir Putin no excuse to blame this on the West.
Biden’s comments came after a weekend of instability in Russia. On Friday, Prigozhin, an erstwhile Putin ally accused Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu of launching rocket attacks on his mercenary forces in Ukraine, calling for an end to the evil of Russia’s military leadership. It was a major escalation in the ongoing war of words between Prigozhin and the Kremlin, whom he accused of mistreating his fighters in Ukraine. Soon after, the Kremlin announced it had opened a criminal case against Prigozhin for armed rebellion.