Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Sergiy Kyslytsya, said on Thursday that the Wagner group’s rebellion showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is no longer capable of controlling his own country.”
At a Security Council meeting on the situation in Ukraine, Kyslytsya said that the whole world witnessed last weekend “the paralysis of the Russian authorities when armed mercenary units easily crossed” the border of the Russian federation.
“Saturday’s events also highlighted that the security and protection of weapons stockpiles on Russian soil are easily compromised by Wagner-type armed formations. There are several lessons that the international community should draw from these events,” said the Ukrainian ambassador.
“By proving its inadequacy by continuing the war against Ukraine with no chance of success, the Putin regime has also shown that it is no longer capable of controlling its own country. The Wagner group’s Saturday advance on Moscow was stopped only by the decision of Wagner’s chief after the involvement of Belarusian dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko,” he added.
This week Putin admitted funding the Wagner group by the Russian state, after years of denying any involvement with the mercenaries who staged a rebellion in the country last weekend.
“The case of the Wagner Group, which has been a product of the Kremlin from the beginning, has also shown that Putin and his cronies are neither trustworthy nor predictable. This regime continues to pose an existential threat not only to its neighbors and its other regions. of the world, but also for Russia itself,” Kyslytsya assessed.
At today’s Security Council meeting, other countries also referred to the rebellion of the Wagner paramilitary group and its impact on the war in Ukraine, as was the case with the United Kingdom.
“A year ago, Russia denied the existence of the Wagner group. Now, the rebellion of Yevgeny Prigozhin (leader of the Wagner group) has publicly destroyed Putin’s case for war in Ukraine,” said British Ambassador Barbara Woodward.
“The march of the Wagner group to Moscow showed us how quickly the Russians can get out of Ukraine whenever they want,” he added.
Also Robert Wood, one of the US ambassadors to the UN, said that for years the Security Council has heard the Russian representative deny any connection between the Kremlin and the Wagner Group, despite the fact that Putin’s most recent statements have proven otherwise.
According to Wood, Russia has repeatedly demonstrated its willingness to abuse its position as a permanent member of the Security Council to deliberately promote falsehoods and disinformation.
The United States, together with its Western allies, also used the meeting to reaffirm its unwavering support for kyiv, guaranteeing that it will continue to supply military equipment to Ukraine until Russian troops leave the country.
For his part, Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said that the balance of power in the Ukrainian conflict will not be altered by any Western weapon, and advocated that “the defeat of Kiev is only a matter of time.”
In addition, Nebenzya indicated that Russia’s preconditions for peace with Ukraine will be different from those presented last year.
“After the chance for peace was lost in March last year because of the United States and the European Union, the preconditions [de paz] for Ukraine it will certainly be different,” he said.
Source: TSF
