President Biden says the U.S. and its allies played no role in the recent mercenary rebellion in Russia.
“We gave Putin no excuse to blame this on the West or to blame this on NATO,” President Biden said while speaking from the White House.
The president called it a struggle within the Russian system. He said officials would continue to assess the situation, but it was too early to reach any conclusions about what was taking place.
The head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, launched an armed rebellion against Russia over the weekend, directing his army to retreat from the front lines of Ukraine and march toward Moscow.
Prigozhin reversed course, however, striking a deal to take his soldiers to Belarus, which said it would grant them amnesty.
Biden said whatever the outcome in Russia, the U.S. and its allies will remain aligned.
“No matter what comes next, I will keep making sure that our allies and our partners are closely aligned in how we are reading and responding to the situation.”
Click play to listen to the report from AURN White House Correspondent Ebony McMorris. For more news, follow @E_N_McMorris & @aurnonline.
