WASHINGTON Jun 28 US President Joe Biden continues to receive regular reports on developments in Russia since the June 24 coup attempt, said White House Deputy Press Secretary Olivia Dalton.
Earlier, Biden himself, in the first official statement about the attempted rebellion by the Wagner group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that he had instructed his national security team to «report» to him hourly about the situation in Russia in the light of the events around the Wagner group, and also prepare for «different scenarios» in this regard.
“He has been regularly briefed, even hourly over the weekend. And those briefings have continued. He is regularly briefed by his homeland security team on what we are seeing,” Dalton said at the briefing.
Asked to comment on various publications in the local press about the details of what happened in Russia over the weekend, Dalton refused to «engage in public speculation.» «I'm just not going to speculate about it from here. This is Russia's internal affair. We are closely monitoring the situation, but the focus remains on Ukraine and providing them with everything they need,» she said.
On the night of June 24, in Rostov-on-Don, the Wagner PMC captured the headquarters of the Southern Military District. The capture took place after Yevgeny Prigozhin's statements that the Russian Armed Forces allegedly carried out missile and bomb attacks on the Wagner camps, although this was denied by both the Ministry of Defense and the Russian FSB. A criminal case was opened against Prigozhin for organizing an armed rebellion. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the actions of the rebels a criminal adventure, a stab in the back of Russia and a betrayal, which led to exorbitant ambitions and personal interests.
Later, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, in agreement with Putin, held talks with Prigozhin, after which Lukashenko's press service reported that the head of the PMC accepted his proposal to stop the Wagner movement in Russia and take further steps to de-escalate. Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that Prigozhin would leave for Belarus, and the criminal case would be dropped. The Kremlin said that the guarantee of this is the word of the President of Russia. On June 27, Lukashenka confirmed Prigozhin's arrival on Belarusian territory. According to the FSB CSO, during the investigation it was found that the participants in the rebellion on June 24 stopped actions directly aimed at committing a crime, taking this into account, the criminal case was closed on June 27.