Wagner crisis reveals how the Ukraine conflict is “cracking Russian power” — EU

The top diplomat for the European Union said on Monday that instability in the nuclear-armed nation is “not a good thing” and pointed to Wagner’s aborted mutiny as evidence that Moscow’s war in Ukraine is splintering Russian power.

“What has happened during this weekend shows that the war against Ukraine is cracking Russian power and affecting its political system,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said at a meeting of the bloc’s foreign ministers.

“Certainly it’s not a good thing to see that a nuclear power like Russia can go into a phase of instability. It’s also something that has to be taken into account,” Borrell told journalists.

He said, “The most important conclusion is that the war against Ukraine launched by (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and the monster that Putin created with Wagner, the monster is biting him”.

“The monster is acting against its creator, the political system is showing the fragilities and the military power is cracking,” Borrell said.

When the EU’s foreign ministers met in Luxembourg for their monthly meeting, they were trying to process the effects of the revolt.

Tobias Billstrom, the foreign minister of Sweden, described the turmoil as a Russian “internal matter.”

He stressed that helping Ukraine regain its territories was the “most important thing.”