(Reuters) – The mutiny foiled by Russia’s Wagner mercenary group over the weekend demonstrated the scale of the Kremlin’s strategic blunder in waging war against Ukraine, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday.
Russia was trying to restore calm on Monday after Wagner’s fighters halted a rapid advance toward Moscow, withdrew from the southern Russian city of Rostov and returned to their bases late Saturday under an agreement that guaranteed their safety.
Their commander, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was to move to Belarus under the deal brokered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin said.
“The weekend’s events are an internal matter for Russia and a further demonstration of the major strategic mistake that President (Vladimir) Putin made with his illegal annexation of Crimea and the war against Ukraine,” Stoltenberg told reporters on a visit to Lithuania’s capital Vilnius.
Confusion over the weekend’s extraordinary events has left Western governments searching for answers to what could happen next in the country with the world’s largest nuclear arsenal – and for its war against Ukraine.
Stoltenberg said that NATO is monitoring the situation in Belarus and again condemned Moscow’s announcement of deploying nuclear weapons there.
“We see no indication that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons, but NATO remains vigilant,” he said, adding that NATO’s deterrence is strong enough to keep its people safe in a “more dangerous world.”
At the same time, Stoltenberg assured Kiev of NATO’s continued support. “We are with Ukraine for as long as it takes,” he said.
Russia calls for unity in support of Putin after aborted mutiny
Russia faced “a challenge to its stability” and needs to remain united alongside President Vladimir Putin, the country’s prime minister said Monday, after mercenaries briefly occupied a strategic command center for the war in Ukraine and marched toward Moscow.
The mutiny armed over the weekend by the powerful Wagner Group and its abrupt end with no apparent penalties for the perpetrators or their leader were followed on Monday by official moves to return the country to normalcy.
The extraordinary events have left governments, both friendly and hostile to Russia, searching for answers to what might happen next in the country with the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said during a televised government meeting that Russia faced “a challenge to its stability.”
“We need to act together, as one team, and maintain the unity of all forces, gathered around the president,” he said.
Russia’s Anti-Terrorism Committee said the situation in the country was stable and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said he was canceling an anti-terror regime imposed in the capital.