West Had 'Nothing To Do' With Events In Russia, U.S. Says

Washington D.C./27.06.23/Turan:  The Biden administration on Monday moved to strongly emphasize that the U.S. and its allies had "no role at all" in the Wagner Group’s attempted rebellion in Russia over the weekend, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

President Joe Biden himself said Monday morning that his efforts during the past few days were an effort to ensure Russia's Putin had “no excuse” to blame the events on the U.S. and its NATO allies.

“We made clear that we were not involved,” Biden said at the White House. “We had nothing to do with it. This is part of a struggle within the Russian system.”

The State Department, in its turn, on Monday refrained from speculating on Yevgeny Prigozhin’s motivations for inciting an armed rebellion in Russia over the weekend.

“I’ll say, it is Vladimir Putin that raised the specter of 1917, not someone, not anyone from the United States government,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a daily press briefing, when responding to TURAN's questions, adding that the situation in Russia remained "dynamic".

Washington had communications with the Russian government on Saturday, both through U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy and at other levels. Tracy told Russian officials that the U.S. expects Russia to uphold its obligations to protect embassy and diplomatic personnel.

“It's unclear what the ultimate implications of what happened will be as it relates to United States activities and United States interests,” Miller said, calling the move by Prigozhin “a significant step.”

“It is certainly a new thing to see President Putin's leadership directly challenged,” Miller said.

The spokesperson also made it clear that the U.S. would like to see Wagner Group disbanded.  "We would obviously like to see Wagner disbanded and the activities that Wagner has conducted in Ukraine and around the world cease to exist," he added.

Alex Raufoglu