BEIJING: China supports Russia in maintaining its national stability, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, a day after an aborted mutiny by the Wagner group of heavily armed mercenaries.
Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko held talks in Beijing on “international” issues on Sunday following the most serious challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s grip on power since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“The Chinese side expressed support for the efforts of the leadership of the Russian Federation to stabilize the situation in the country in connection with the events of June 24 and confirmed its interest in strengthening the cohesion and further prosperity of Russia,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
China’s Foreign Ministry initially said only that Rudenko had exchanged views with China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang on Sino-Russian relations as well as “international and regional issues of common concern.”
Mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin realizes that it is difficult to achieve the desired results through this rebellion.
Song Zhongping, Chinese military expert
It later said China supports Russia in maintaining its national stability and that the recent escalation in tensions in Russia was Russia’s “internal affairs.”
It was unclear when Rudenko arrived in Beijing, or whether his visit to China, a key ally of Russia, was in response to the apparent rebellion led by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.
The mutiny was aborted on Saturday in a deal that spared Prigozhin and his mercenaries from facing criminal charges in return for Prigozhin pulling his fighters back to base and moving to Belarus.
China earlier made no comment on the rebellion that Putin said threatened Russia’s very existence while Western leaders including US President Joe Biden said they were closely monitoring the situation.
“China will support Russia while stressing no interference of its internal affairs,” prominent Chinese military expert and TV commentator Song Zhongping told Reuters.
“Prigozhin realizes that it is difficult to achieve the desired results through this rebellion.”
Prigozhin had said his “march” on Moscow was intended to remove corrupt and incompetent commanders he blames for botching the war in Ukraine.
The unprecedented challenge to President Putin by Wagner fighters has exposed fresh “cracks” in the strength of his leadership that may take weeks or months to play out, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the final act,” Blinken said on ABC News, in one of a series of interviews.
Blinken said tensions that sparked the action had been rising for months and the turmoil could affect Moscow’s military capabilities in Ukraine.
“We’ve seen more cracks emerge in the Russian facade. It is too soon to tell exactly where they go, and when they get there. But certainly, we have all sorts of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead,” Blinken told NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.
Blinken described the turmoil as an “internal matter” for Putin.
“Our focus is resolutely and relentlessly on Ukraine, making sure that it has what it needs to defend itself and to take back territory that Russia seized,” Blinken said.
US officials expect to learn more in coming days and weeks about the events that unfolded in Russia, including details of the deal with Prigozhin mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that led Wagner fighters to return to their bases.
“It may be that Putin didn’t want to debase himself to the level of negotiating directly with Prigozhin,” Blinken said.
Forces led by Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and conflict, have fought the bloodiest of battles in Russia’s 16-month war in Ukraine.
“To the extent that the Russians are distracted and divided it may make their prosecution of aggression against Ukraine more difficult,” Blinken told ABC’s “This Week” program.
Blinken said neither the US nor the Russian nuclear posture had changed as a result of the crisis.
US Senator Ben Cardin said the weekend turmoil in Russia does not ease Washington’s need to continue aiding Ukraine as it launches its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia.
“This is a critical time for Ukraine. This counteroffensive is going to be defining as to where we’re going to be in the next year or two,” Cardin, a Democrat who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Fox News. “So it’s incredibly important that we maintain our support and not be fooled by what’s happening in Russia today as to the needs of the Ukrainians.”
The rebellion has been closely followed by Chinese media, which has largely refrained from comment ahead of any official remarks.
But Chinese state-controlled Global Times said on Saturday that hyping up the “mutiny” of Prigozhin and creating an “illusion” Russia has many internal contradictions and “the building is collapsing” amounted to the latest attack by Western media and another attempt to undermine Russian social unity.
Many Chinese citizens expressed support for Putin on social media.
“You can do it, Russia!” multiple social media posts read.
China’s Embassy in Russia told Chinese media outlet Southern Metropolis Daily on Saturday that the region around Moscow was calm.
