Biden: Western allies not involved in Wagner rebellion

U.S. President Joe Biden made his first comments regarding the Wagner Group's short-lived rebellion to the media on June 26.

The U.S. head of state called the incident Russia's internal matter, specifying that Washington and its allies had nothing to do with it.

"(The allies) agreed with me that we had to make sure we gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West, to blame this on NATO," Biden said.

He added that he spoke to his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky and that, no matter what happens in Russia, the United States will continue to support Ukraine.

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Публикация от Kyiv Independent (@kyivindependent_official)

On June 23, Wagner's founder Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion against the Russian government. The mercenary group occupied Rostov, a major regional capital, and marched all the way to the town of Kashira in Moscow Oblast before unexpectedly ending the rebellion on June 24.

Following Prigozhin's negotiations with Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko that led to Wagner's retreat, the Kremlin pledged to close the criminal case against the mercenary boss, who was set to leave for Belarus.

Petro Burkovskyi: Decoding Prigozhin’s rebellion

The Wagner Group’s armed rebellion has displayed little evidence of being a successful challenge to Putin’s regime, but it has created a strong argument in support of Ukraine’s accelerated accession to NATO. The military drama that unfolded in Russia from June 23 to 24, orchestrated by Wagner

The Kyiv IndependentPetro Burkovskyi

Prigozhin's current whereabouts as well as the content of the deal between Wagner and the Kremlin remain unclear in public sources beyond speculation and gossip.

Media reports indicate that the Wagner Group began reopening its recruitment centers in several Russian cities, while also setting up military camps in Belarus 200 km from the Ukrainian border.