The U.S. and its European allies have been consulted, but have publicly taken care to stay out of the crisis in Russia, which Ukraine, which has been waging a counteroffensive to recapture territory in recent weeks, hopes to benefit from, observers say.

US President Joe Biden discussed the situation in Russia by phone with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, according to the White House.

The four leaders reaffirmed their “unwavering support for Ukraine,” a terse White House press release said, but refrained from commenting publicly on the aborted armed rebellion by the head of the Russian mercenary company Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who, in a dramatic U-turn, ordered his heavily armed troops to stop their advance on Moscow.

Beyond any potential impact of the insurgency on the war in Ukraine, instability in any nuclear force raises further concerns.

A spokesman for the American presidency said that Mr. Biden was informed about the “latest developments” in Russia in a meeting yesterday Saturday morning with officials of the political and military hierarchy.

Similar high-level meetings were organized in European capitals.

Earlier, US foreign policy chief Anthony Blinken exchanged views with his counterparts from G7 member states and agreed to continue “close coordination,” according to a news release from State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also exchanged views with his counterparts in Canada, France, Germany, Britain and Poland, according to a statement from his services.

A sign of how seriously Washington took this crisis: the chief of the national defense staff, General Mark Milley, canceled a planned trip to Israel and Jordan.

Wagner’s mutiny caused confusion in Washington and European capitals.

It is among the most serious challenges during Vladimir Putin’s autocracy in Russia and the most serious state security crises since he took power in late 1999.

A US military source pointed out that the US has been careful about what it says publicly, so as not to give Moscow the opportunity to accuse it of meddling.

Russian diplomacy yesterday warned Western nations against any attempt to “take advantage” of the mutiny to further their “Russophobic” plans. He also insisted that the Wagner uprising will not prevent Moscow from “achieving its goals” in Ukraine.

“Gift”

The confusion in Russia could, according to some observers, benefit the Ukrainian military, which has recently launched a counteroffensive to drive Russian forces out of swaths of territory they have held in southern and eastern Ukraine since the outbreak of war. in February 2022.

The head of the Ukrainian army, Valery Zaluzny, yesterday assured the head of the US National Defense General Staff that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is proceeding “according to plans”.

The Ukrainian Defense Ministry claimed it had advanced in several directions on the eastern front.

Belarus, a Moscow ally that mediated between the Kremlin and Mr Prigozhin, yesterday called the mutiny by the mercenary company a “gift” to the West.

In Kiev, Deputy Minister of Defense Hana Maliar spoke of a “window of opportunity” and President Volodymyr Zelensky judged that the crisis shows “Russia’s weakness”. He took the opportunity to ask for more weapons, especially F-16 fighters and ATACMS missiles, with a range of 300 kilometers and more.

For the Russologist James Nixy of Chatham House “Ukraine will try (…) to capitalize” on the crisis.

“It will motivate the troops at the front” trying to break the Russian defense lines, he estimated, adding that Ukraine will be “grateful” to Yevgeny Prigozhin if he makes gains, “but not for long. He may be useful temporarily but he is no knight on a white horse.”

“The timing of Putin and Prigozhin’s potential war is perfect for Ukraine,” opined Chatham House’s Orisia Lucevich, mainly because it would sow “confusion” and “splits” among Russian forces operating in Ukraine.

Wagner’s foiled mutiny will “in no way” affect the war the Kremlin has dubbed a “special military operation” in Ukraine, countered Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov last night.