French Foreign Minister Values Wagner's Insurgency Shows Russia's Fragile

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna (left) and Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

PARIS - French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonana assessed that the insurgency by Wagner's mercenaries against the Kremlin showed Russia's internal fragileness.

"This rebellion has resolved Russia's conflicts, rifts, divisions, and even internal weaknesses," Colona said as quoted by Antara, Wednesday, June 28.

However, Colonna did not dare to draw conclusions from the dispute, stating she had to analyze the situation first.

He stressed France's support for Ukraine and welcomed the 11th European Union sanction package against Russia.

Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said it was too early to analyze Wagner's situation and the impact of Wagner's move on Russia.

According to Estonian Foreign Minister, Margus Tsahkna, Baltic countries must prioritize steps to strengthen their defense capacity, let's take care of Russia's domestic problems.

However, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielus Landsbergis observed that developments in Russia last weekend had shown how fast Moscow's threat to neighboring countries was.

The dispute between Wagner and the Kremlin came when Wagner accused the Russian Ministry of Defense of attacking his fighters.

Wagner's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, also ordered his troops to cross the Ukraine-Russia border towards Russia's Rostov-on-Don city, and deploy the group of mercenaries moving towards Moscow.

Russia's Federal Security Agency (FSB) said Wagner's actions were "armed rebellion". They opened a criminal case against Prigozhin.

However, before arriving in Moscow, Prigozhin and his fighters decided to step back "to avoid bloodshed".

On Monday, June 26, Prigozhin claimed that he did not plan to overthrow the Russian government because he only wanted to "suppress the protests" and prevent his mercenaries from being dissolved.

He said the Russian Defense Ministry plans to sign a contract with all Wagner fighters on July 1.

The move would make Wagner part of a regular Russian army he judged "will destroy the combat capabilities of these troops."