US officials see weakened Putin as Russia turmoil reveals 'cracks'
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[June 26, 2023]
By David Morgan and Hannah Lang
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The unprecedented challenge to Russian President
Vladimir Putin by Wagner fighters has exposed fresh "cracks" in the
strength of his leadership that may take weeks or months to play out,
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday.
Blinken and members of the U.S. Congress said in a series of television
interviews that Saturday's turmoil in Russia has weakened Putin in ways
that could aid Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russian forces within
its territory while benefiting Russia's neighbors, including Poland and
the Baltic states.
"I don't think we've seen the final act," Blinken said on ABC's "This
Week" program after an aborted mutiny by forces led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Blinken said tensions that sparked the action had been growing for
months and added the threat of internal 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.
U.S. officials expect to learn more soon 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.
'DISTRACTED AND DIVIDED'
Forces led by Prigozhin, a former Putin ally and ex-convict, 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.
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Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via
REUTERS
House of Representatives Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner
said Putin's future actions in Ukraine could be inhibited by
Prigozhin's assertion that the rationale for invading Ukraine was
based on lies.
"Taking down the very premise makes it much more difficult for Putin
to continue to turn to the Russian people and say, we should
continue to send people to die," Turner told CBS' "Face the Nation"
program.
Retired U.S. Air Force General Philip Breedlove, former head of U.S.
European Command, said the turmoil demonstrates a degradation of
Russian capabilities.
"One of the outcomes, I believe, of the last 36 hours, maybe 48
hours, is that the institutions that we have long seen as being very
secure in Russia are slowly unraveling," Breedlove said in an
interview. "The whole institution of the military now, the
appearance of what the Russian military is, is much diminished."
U.S. 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.
Republican Representative Don Bacon, a former U.S. Air Force general
who sits on the House Armed Services Committee, told NBC that a
diminished Putin would be a benefit for Russia's neighbors including
Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
"It would be different if Putin was wanting to be a peaceful
neighbor. But he's not," Bacon said.
(Reporting by David Morgan, Hannah Lang and Tyler Clifford; Editing
by Scott Malone, Chizu Nomiyama, Mark Porter and Chris Reese)
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