The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has broken his silence on Monday about the revolt of the Wagner Group in Russia. In an appearance to talk about investment in infrastructure, he first made a brief statement in which he emphasized reiterating his support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, requesting coordination from allies and disassociating the West and NATO from what happened. “We have had nothing to do with it,” he said.
Biden had intentionally dodged microphones and tape recorders since Friday afternoon. On the one hand, there was not much clarity about what was happening in Russia. On the other hand, he considered that any statement of his could be misinterpreted as some kind of interference. On Sunday it was the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who gave four interviews to different television channels and pointed out how the rebellion shows the “cracks” in the regime of Vladimir Putin. Finally, this Monday, at the White House, Biden has spoken.
“As the situation began to unfold, I ordered my national security team to monitor and update me hour by hour. I ordered them to prepare for a series of scenarios. I also brought in our top allies via Zoom call to make sure we were all on the same page. It is essential that we are coordinated in our response ”, his statement began, lasting just over two minutes
“We agreed that we have to make sure that we don’t give Putin any excuse to blame this on the West or NATO. We made it clear that we were not involved. We have had nothing to do with it. This has been part of a fight within the Russian system,” he added.
The President of the United States recalled that he has spoken with the Ukrainian leader, Volodimir Zelenski, with whom he will continue to be in contact, and that he has assured him that “what has happened in Russia does not matter for the United States to continue supporting the defense of Ukraine and its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“He [Zelenski] and I have agreed to follow up and stay in constant contact. I am also in permanent contact with our allies to maintain our coordination ”, she continued. “To maintain our coordination, I will speak with the heads of state right after this meeting today, and I will make sure that we are on the same page,” Biden said.
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“We will continue to assess the consequences of the events of this weekend, and the implications for Russia and Ukraine. But it is still too early to reach a definitive conclusion about where this is going. The final outcome of all this remains to be seen. But regardless of what comes next, I will continue to make sure that our allies and our partners are closely aligned in how we are reading and responding to the situation. It is important that we are completely coordinated ”, he concluded.
Biden has kept in touch with allied countries. On Saturday he spoke with the president of France, Emmanuel Macron; German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. This Sunday, she spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, who called the conversation “positive and inspiring.”
In the conversation with Zelensky, Biden spoke both of the situation in Russia and of the incipient counteroffensive. Cautiously and aware of the difficulties, Washington believes that Ukraine can benefit in its counterattack from the chaotic situation in Russia, Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged on Sunday.
The Ukrainian president especially thanked the United States and its allies for the Patriot missiles and fighter jets. In addition, they spoke “of continuing to expand defense cooperation, emphasizing long-range weapons.” “We have discussed the course of hostilities and the processes taking place in Russia. The world must put pressure on Russia until international order is restored.” Zelensky tweeted on Sunday.
Along with Biden and Zelensky’s conversation, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also spoke this Sunday with Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov about developments in regional security and dynamics on the ground in Ukraine, according to the Pentagon.
Secretary Austin reiterated “America’s unwavering support for Ukraine” and has discussed security assistance priorities to meet Ukraine’s battlefield needs. The type of military priorities and needs changes in part when moving to the counteroffensive phase and may be affected by recent events.
The United States is scheduled to announce, as early as Tuesday, a new military aid package to Ukraine worth up to $500 million. The package will include ground vehicles as Ukraine presses its fledgling counter-offensive, according to two US officials cited by Reuters, adding that the package was still being finalized and could change. The security aid package would be the 41st approved by the United States for Ukraine since the Russian invasion, totaling more than $40 billion.
The Pentagon announced last week that an accounting error revealed in May was significantly larger than previously stated and that the aid provided to Ukraine has so far been overstated by $6.2 billion instead of $3 billion as stated at the time. . The accounting error includes fiscal years 2022 and 2023 and occurred because in a significant number of cases, when the United States transferred weapons, the Pentagon replaced the value of the material instead of the actual cost. That leaves an additional cushion to continue providing aid to Ukraine without the need for Congress to approve new items.
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