CIA Director William Burns contacted the Director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, to convey a message that the United States had no involvement in the mutiny attempt by the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC).
According to The Wall Street Journal, The phone conversation, initiated by the United States, was aimed at assuring Russia that the US did not intend to exacerbate tensions and considered the incident to be Russia’s internal affair.
On June 23, audio recordings were posted on the Telegram channel of Wagner PMC founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, in which he claimed that his units were under attack, accusing the Russian military.
The Russian Defense Ministry refuted Prigozhin’s allegations, labeling them as fake news. Subsequently, the PMC units supporting Prigozhin changed their course and retreated to their base camps after talks between Prigozhin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, coordinated with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Russian authorities dropped the criminal case on armed mutiny and pledged not to prosecute the Wagner PMC fighters involved in the mutiny.
The conversation between Burns and Naryshkin represents the highest-level interaction between the US and Russia since the incident. The US’s message, conveyed through Burns, aimed to clarify that the US was not involved in the mutiny and considered it to be a matter for Russia alone.
It’s important to note that these developments are based on unnamed sources cited by The Wall Street Journal, and official statements from the involved parties may provide additional information or perspectives on the matter.
