Foreign Minister Lavrov Says Russia To Investigate Whether Foreign Intelligence Service Was Involved In Wagner Rebellion

JAKARTA - Russian intelligence services are investigating whether West Ukraine's spy agency played a role in the failed uprising of Wagner Group mercenaries last Saturday.

In an interview with RT Television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the country's security services were investigating whether Brat intelligence was involved or not in the June 24 incident.

"I work in a government ministry that is not involved in collecting evidence of committed unlawful acts, but we have such an institution and, I assure you, they have already checked it," Lavrov said, when asked if there was any evidence suggesting the involvement of Ukrainian or Western intelligence, reported by TASS June 27.

On the same occasion, Foreign Minister Lavrov revealed, United States Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy signaled to Moscow that Washington had nothing to do with the rebellion and hoped that Russia's nuclear weapons would be safe.

"By the way, when US Ambassador Tracy spoke to Russian officials yesterday, she sent out several signals. These signals may not be a secret; mainly that the US had nothing to do with this, that the US was hopeful that nuclear weapons would be okay, that diplomats America will not be harmed," Foreign Minister Lavrov said.

According to Lavrov, Ambassador Tracy also reiterated in the conversation that the situation where the rebellion occurred was Russia's internal affairs.

"It was emphasized that the US proceeded from the facts, that everything that happened was the internal affairs of the Russian Federation," said the top diplomat.

Foreign Minister Lavrov also highlighted the different attitudes taken by Washington, towards several attempted coups over the years in various countries, looking at who attempted the coup and who was in power.

In particular, Foreign Minister Lavrov highlighted the 2014 coup in Kyiv as an example.

"The bloody provocation against unarmed law enforcement officials, the coup against the legitimate president, just hours before this coup, a settlement agreement was reached, supported by the European Union. The US and its European allies do not protest this coup," said Foreign Minister Lavrov.

At the same time, Foreign Minister Lavrov reminded that the West called the situation when thousands of people in Moldova peacefully protested the policies of the country's president, Maia Sandu, as an attempted coup.

"By definition, there is no protest where the West is interested in keeping the rulers in power, and where the authorities do not reflect the interests of anyone's hegemon but try to take into account the national interests of their country and their people, all kinds of spies stalk the authorities. This is the American rule, this is the American way of seeing the world, the way they want it to be and want to strengthen it," he concluded.