Secretary of State Antony Blinken holds crisis talks with America’s closest allies and says the US is working “in close coordination” with the G7 and EU in the face of armed rebellion in Russia
- Senior US diplomat Antony Blinken spoke to G7 and EU counterparts on Saturday
- He promised to “remain in close coordination with the Allies” as the crisis in Russia unfolded
- Russia’s Wagner mercenaries launched an armed uprising against Vladimir Putin
The top US diplomat has been holding crisis talks with America’s closest allies as the private mercenaries of Russia’s Wagner Group launched an armed insurgency against the country’s leader Vladimir Putin.
Foreign Minister Antony Blinken was holding a phone call with his G7 and EU counterparts on Saturday morning as Wagner militants seized control of some military installations in southern Russia and advanced towards Moscow.
“The United States will remain in close coordination with allies and partners as the situation evolves,” Blinken wrote on Twitter.
Blinken spoke to all of his G7 counterparts from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, as well as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the State Department said.
The diplomats discussed “the current situation in Russia,” according to a State Department press release confirming the call.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (above) said Saturday he spoke to his G7 and EU counterparts after Wagner militants seized control of some military installations in southern Russia
Overnight on Friday, Wagner mercenary troops reportedly advanced from Rostov-on-Don to Voronezh while moving rapidly along the M4 highway towards Russia’s capital Moscow
“Secretary of State Blinken reiterated that United States support for Ukraine will not change,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a press release.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin said Putin spoke to leaders of Russia’s close allies on Saturday following the armed uprising by mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had phoned the leaders of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and “updated his counterparts about the situation.”
Putin also spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkey is a NATO member but maintains ties with Russia, including through agreements to purchase military equipment from Moscow.
A Kremlin statement said Putin had briefed Erdogan “on the situation in the country related to an attempted armed uprising” and that the Turkish president had “expressed his full support for the steps taken by the Russian leadership.”
The Wagner forces are led by Wagner Group owner Prigozhin, who on Friday called for an armed uprising to overthrow Putin’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Although the situation on the ground in Russia remained very uncertain and uncertain, there were signs that Wagner troops were rapidly advancing on Moscow on Saturday night.
The Wagner forces are led by Wagner Group owner Yevgeny Prigozhin, who on Friday called for an armed uprising to overthrow Putin’s defense minister
A military convoy of private Wagner mercenaries drove near Voronezh on Saturday along the M-4 highway connecting the capital Moscow with Russia’s southern cities
Armored vehicles were spotted on the M4 highway on the outskirts of Moscow on Saturday
An oil depot in the Voronezh region is on fire. It was reportedly “attacked by a pro-Putin attack helicopter” to prevent Wagner fighters from seizing the fuel while the mercenaries advanced
The governor of Russia’s Lipetsk province said on Saturday that the mercenary group had entered the region.
The Lipetsk region is about 225 miles south of Moscow and much closer to the capital than Rostov-on-Don, where Wagner troops showed up Friday night.
The authorities “are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of the population.” “The situation is under control,” Governor Igor Artamonov said in the Telegram. He did not provide any further information about Wagner’s presence.
In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin took Prigozhin’s threat, riot police and the National Guard scrambled to tighten security of key facilities in Moscow, including government agencies and transport infrastructure, Russian state media reported.
The story develops, others follow.