Volodymyr Zelenskyy Discusses Russia’s Wagner Coup With Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday discussed the brief armed rebellion by mercenary group Wagner in Russia with the United States President Joe Biden.

“I spoke with US President Joseph Biden. A positive and inspiring conversation,” Zelensky tweeted.

“We discussed the course of hostilities and the processes taking place in Russia,” he said, adding the two had also discussed long-range weapons. The development was separately confirmed by the White House, reported news agency AFP.

Mercenary group Wagner’s chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin sparked Russia’s largest political crisis in decades on Friday after he vowed to topple the Russian military leadership. But the tensions subsided relatively peacefully after the two parties reached a deal with Prigozhin to go into exile and sounded the retreat.

As per the deal announced by Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, Prigozhin will go to neighbouring Belarus and charges of mounting an armed rebellion will be dropped, reported news agency Associated Press. It also said that it would not prosecute fighters who took part in the rebellion while those who did not join in were to be offered contracts by the defence ministry.

The two leaders also discussed more US aid “with an emphasis on long-range weapons” and coordinated the two countries’ positions on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius next month, Zelenskyy said.

The Ukrainian President also discussed the Wagner revolt with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sharing “Ukraine’s assessments of the attempted coup in Russia and the impact of this situation on the course of hostilities”.

He also held a separate conversation with Polish President Andrzej Duda and discussed the situation on the battlefield and the threat to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, in southern Ukraine, held by Russian forces.