U.S. President Joe Biden has sought to pre-empt any talk from Russian President Vladimir Putin that the West provoked the mercenary rebellion that shook Russia over the weekend, saying the U.S. and NATO had played no role and were still weighing its consequences.
In his first public comments about the matter, Biden said Monday ait was still too soon to make any conclusions about the revolt by Wagner Group mercenaries and their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin. Officials briefing heads of state in the U.S. and Europe cautioned against predictions that Putin will emerge weakened, or that it will be a gain for Ukrainian troops in the midst of a counteroffensive.
Biden’s remarks followed several days of silence from the White House and were echoed by numerous U.S. and allied leaders on Monday. Several people familiar with the allied approach said leaders want to keep the focus on the internal divisions posed by Prigozhin’s mutiny and show that the Ukraine invasion has divided Russians — while Ukraine and the West remain united.