President Joe Biden discussed the astounding mercenary mutiny by the Wagner Group in Russia with the leaders of the biggest NATO nations in Europe on Saturday.
After speaking, he refused to take any questions from the media as he left for a weekend trip to Camp David with his scandal-plagued son Hunter.
Joe Biden Addresses Wagner Group Mutiny Amidst Escalating Crisis
In a series of stunning events that occurred hours earlier, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner organization, effectively declared war on the Kremlin, appeared to take over Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia overnight, and threatened to march on Moscow.
Biden raised the situation in Russia and affirmed their staunch support for Ukraine in meetings with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and French President Emmanuel Macron, according to the White House.
As he boarded the Marine One helicopter at Joint Base Andrews with Hunter Biden, who on Tuesday agreed to plead guilty to federal tax and gun charges, the US president delayed by more than an hour his planned Saturday morning departure from the White House to the military-run presidential retreat in western Maryland. He also did not respond to any questions from reporters.
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Wagner Group’s Mutiny Shakes Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Prigozhin, with whom he had a simmering power battle, declared on Friday that 25,000 of his soldiers would withdraw from the frontlines of the 16-month-old Russian invasion of Ukraine and try to overthrow Sergei Shoigu’s government.
Yevgeny Prigozhin declared that 25,000 of his soldiers will flee the frontlines of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in order to overthrow Sergei Shoigu’s government.
It was a “wait and see whether they kill themselves sort of situation,” a senior US intelligence official told Reuters reporter James LaPorta.
In an address to his country early on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in office for more than 23 years, referred to the Wagner group’s mutiny as treason.
Biden is anticipated to hide from the public until he gets back to Washington on Sunday.
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