Supporting Ukraine, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, is more important than ever
European foreign ministers are meeting in Luxembourg on Monday morning and their talks will be dominated by the latest developments from Russia.
“It is more important than ever to support Ukraine,” the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, told the press.
“Because what happened over this weekend shows that the war against Ukraine is eroding Russian power and its political system,” he said.
Wagner’s group, considered a private military organization in Russia, launched a coup on Saturday when it complained about the country’s defense minister and criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin. The rebellion ended soon after, but exposed the fragility of Putin in his own country. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that “we have not seen the last act.”
“This is Russia’s internal matter,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said as he arrived for a meeting in Luxembourg.
“What happens in Russia (…) will have an impact on the security circumstances, but the important thing right now is to stand by Ukraine in its efforts to regain its territorial integrity.”
He added that, overall, the short-lived insurgency in Russia showed that “it’s very clear that the war is not going the way Putin wanted it to.”
Russia’s attempt to achieve a full invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022.
— Silvia Amaro
Moscow’s mayor canceled extraordinary “anti-terror” measures
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin on Monday announced the end of emergency anti-terrorist measures imposed in response to the Wagners’ armed rebellion.
In a statement posted on Telegram, Sobyanin thanked Muscovites for their “calmness and understanding.”
— Elliott Smith
Russian mercenary boss Prigozhin is “a dead man walking”, says Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer
A screenshot captured from a video shows Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin delivering a speech after the Southern Military District headquarters surrounded fighters of the Wagner paramilitary group in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. (Photo by Wagner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Wagner | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is a “dead man walking” after leading a botched insurgency against Vladimir Putin, according to Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group.
The weekend armed uprising by Prigozhin, a former Putin ally who founded the private militia Wagner, was seen as a rare threat to the Russian president’s 23 years in power. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the episode had been exposed “cracks” in the Kremlin which were not seen before.
Prigozhin is “kind of a dead man walking at this point,” Bremmer saidSquawk Box Asia” Monday. “I would be very surprised if he would still be with us in a few months.
The uprising led by Prigozhin was unprecedented because Putin – until now – had been able to quickly suppress any occasional unarmed protest. Over the weekend, the Wagner rebels came within 200 kilometers of the capital, Moscow, before their leader abruptly called off the mission.
Read this story more.
— Clement Tan
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited soldiers in Ukraine
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu attends a meeting with graduates of the Higher Military Schools in the Kremlin on June 21, 2023 in Moscow.
Egor Aleyev | AFP | Getty Images
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has visited his troops in Ukraine, the Defense Ministry said Monday, making his first public appearance since the weekend mutiny by Wagner mercenaries.
In a post on TelegramThe Ministry of Defense said that Shoigu, according to the Google translation, informed about the progress of the commander of some units in occupied Ukraine.
It suggests that Shoigu remains in charge despite the uprising, which was abruptly called off by Wagner leader Yevgeny Prigozhin less than 24 hours after it began.
Shoigu’s future has been called into question following the events of the weekend, but a Telegram post described him as “the head of Russia’s military department”.
— Audrey Wan
Russia’s uprising exposes ‘cracks’ in Putin’s regime, Blinken says
Foreign Secretary Antony Blinken speaks at the opening session of the first day of the Ukraine Recovery Conference at the InterContinental London O2 on June 21, 2023 in London, England.
Leah Millis | AFP | Getty Images
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday that the violent uprising by one of President Putin’s longtime allies exposed “cracks” in the regime which “were not before”.
“This is just another chapter in a very, very bad book that Putin has written for Russia,” Blinken told CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday.
He called Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s direct appeal to Putin “extraordinary” and said Russia’s war in Ukraine was ultimately a “devastating, strategic failure.”
Blinken expects the U.S. to learn more about the intricacies of the deal between the Kremlin and Prigozhin in the coming weeks and months, as well as the eventual fate of the Wagner Group.
– Elliot Smith
Russian mercenary boss Prigozhin is “a dead man walking”, says Eurasia Group’s Ian Bremmer
A screenshot captured from a video shows Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin delivering a speech after the Southern Military District headquarters surrounded fighters of the Wagner paramilitary group in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24, 2023. (Photo by Wagner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Wagner | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin is a “dead man walking” after leading a botched insurgency against Vladimir Putin, according to Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group.
The weekend armed uprising by Prigozhin, a former Putin ally who founded the private militia Wagner, was seen as a rare threat to the Russian president’s 23 years in power. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the episode had been exposed “cracks” in the Kremlin which were not seen before.
Prigozhin is “kind of a dead man walking at this point,” Bremmer saidSquawk Box Asia” Monday. “I would be very surprised if he would still be with us in a few months.
The uprising led by Prigozhin was unprecedented because Putin – until now – had been able to quickly suppress any occasional unarmed protest. Over the weekend, the Wagner rebels came within 200 kilometers of the capital, Moscow, before their leader abruptly called off the mission.
Read this story more.
— Clement Tan
No criminal charges against Prigozhin, but he will go to Belarus, state media say
Wagner Group Commander Yevgeny Prigozhin left the headquarters of the Southern Military District on June 24, 2023 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
Stringer | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s criminal charges will be dropped and he will go to Belarus, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Saturday, according to Russian state media.
Russian authorities will not prosecute Wagner members who participated in the uprising, and PMC fighters who refused to participate in Prigozhin’s “campaign” will sign contracts with the Ministry of Defense, Peskov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a video speech on June 24, 2023 as Wagner fighters stage an uprising.
Gavriil Grigorov | AFP | Getty Images
There will be no new televised address from Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Peskov said the leader continued to work in the Kremlin throughout the day.
Peskov said that the uprising will not affect the course of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in any way.
—Ashley Capoot