White House says 'too soon to know' impact of Wagner revolt in Russia

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The White House on Monday said it is "too soon to know" what impact last weekend’s Wagner revolt in Russia will have in the region.

"The president is focused on supporting Ukraine. We are not taking sides in this internal matter," White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters during a daily press briefing.

But he added: "The history of this conflict has shown that the Russian military is not as vaunted as perhaps they wanted to characterize themselves."

Turning the focus back to the 16-month-old Ukraine war, he said: "And again, not sound like a broken record, but what we're trying to do is make sure that the Ukrainians have everything they need to be successful in that fight."

Asked by a reporter about President Joe Biden's remarks in March 2022 – about a month after Russia launched the war – saying, "For God's sake, this man (Putin) cannot remain in power," Kirby responded: "Regime change is not our policy. We've been very, very clear about that."

"What we're focused on is making sure Ukraine can succeed on the battlefield," he added.

Last year, Biden said he made the unscripted remarks out of “outrage,” but that he was not advocating “regime change.”

Kirby also declined to comment on whether the US government considers the events that took place with the Wagner Group a "mutiny, a coup, an attempted coup, or an armed rebellion."

"We're not slapping a bumper sticker on it," he said.

Asked about the possibility of nuclear escalation, Kirby pointed out that Russia is a nuclear power, adding that the US has been "monitoring" Russia’s strategic posture and capabilities.

"Outside of the blustery rhetoric, we’ve seen no indication that there’s any intent to use nuclear weapons inside Ukraine," Kirby said, adding: "We've seen nothing that would that would compel us to change our own strategic deterrent posture."