A delicate situation which weakens the Kremlin: this is the observation drawn up by Josep Borrell. Wagner’s abortive mutiny shows that the war in Ukraine is “splitting” Russian power, the EU’s foreign policy chief said on Monday.
“The Wagner monster created by Putin is biting its creator,” he commented before a meeting of European foreign ministers in Luxembourg. “What happened over the weekend shows that the war against Ukraine is cracking Russian power and affecting its political system,” said the Spanish politician.
Catherine Colonna finds “flaws in the Russian system”
“We see the disastrous consequences of the Russian war of aggression on Putin’s system of power. We see that Russian leaders are turning more and more against themselves,” commented German Minister Annalena Baerbock. “These events raise many questions and we must remain cautious. There are a lot of gray areas. But they show cracks, fractures, flaws within the Russian system, ”added his French counterpart Catherine Colonna.
The fact that these events occur in a country that is a nuclear power worries. “It is certainly not a good thing that a nuclear power like Russia can enter a phase of instability. It is also something that must be taken into account,” said Josep Borrell. “Russia is (…) one of the two greatest nuclear powers on the planet. We cannot remain indifferent to what is happening there. And that should make us all think,” added the head of Austrian diplomacy Alexander Schallenberg.