Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with several foreign ministers of United States allies on Saturday amid the military rebellion in Russia from Wagner mercenaries threatening to weaken the country’s offensive in the Ukrainian war.
Blinken spoke with leaders in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom on Saturday morning to discuss the situation in Russia, according to the State Department. The call comes just one day after mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin led his troops out of Ukraine and into a key city south of Moscow, marking the biggest threat to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s leadership in over two decades in power.
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“Secretary Blinken reiterated that support by the United States for Ukraine will not change,” department spokesman Matthew Miller said. “The United States will stay in close coordination with Allies and partners as the situation continues to develop.”
The revolt occurred after Prigozhin accused the Russian military of killing a “huge amount” of his men, warning he would “destroy” any resistance to their group.
“There are 25,000 of us, and we are going to find out why there is such chaos in the country,” Prigozhin said.
The group of mercenaries then marched to Rostov-on-Don, with Prigozhin releasing a video saying they would blockade the area until Russia’s top military generals came to meet with them.
The Wagner forces played a key role in the Russian offensive of the Ukrainian war by capturing the eastern city of Bakhmut, where the bloodiest and longest battles have taken place.
Prigozhin founded Wagner to fight battles in eastern Ukraine as well as other Russian battles across the world. However, Prigozhin has increasingly criticized the Russian military, accusing it of incompetence and of starving his troops of munitions.
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Putin compared the revolt to Russia’s own civil war in 1917, which occurred after the Bolsheviks overthrew Tsar Nicholas II of Russia during World War I. That attack ignited a war within the country and eventually led to the creation of the Soviet Union.
“This was the same kind of blow that Russia felt in 1917 when the country entered World War I, but had victory stolen from it,” Putin said. “Intrigues, squabbles, politicking behind the backs of the army and the people turned out to be the greatest shock, the destruction of the army, the collapse of the state, the loss of vast territories, and in the end, the tragedy and civil war. Russians killed Russians, brothers killed brothers.”
