“The situation remains quite dynamic”
Federal government crisis team meets
06/24/2023, 3:20 p.m
The chaos in Russia is now occupying the crisis team of the Federal Foreign Office. Chancellor Scholz is also “continuously informed”. For Defense Minister Pistorius, the possible consequences for the Ukraine war are “hardly foreseeable”.
In view of the situation in Russia, the Federal Government’s crisis management team has met at the Federal Foreign Office. The committee is meeting “on the hour” under the direction of Foreign State Secretary Andreas Michaelis, the ministry said. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had also “just discussed the situation with the foreign ministers of the G7”.
The Foreign Ministry confirmed that the federal government was “closely monitoring developments in Russia.” It pointed out that the travel and safety instructions for Russia had already been adjusted in the morning.
The Federal Foreign Office advises against traveling to the city center of Moscow and to certain areas of Russia away. “There is a warning against traveling to the administrative areas bordering Ukraine (Belgorod, Kursk, Bryansk, Voronezh, Rostov, Krasnodar). Due to current events, the administrative areas mentioned and in particular the city of Rostov and the surrounding area should be avoided,” it says. In Moscow, military installations in particular should be avoided and the city center avoided. “The instructions of the Russian security authorities should definitely be followed,” it said.
“The situation is completely confusing,” said FDP politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann RTL and ntv. “But the fact that the Wagner group is withdrawing from the Ukrainian border and Russia is bombing them in their own country is a great opportunity for Ukraine,” added the chair of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag. The fact that Vladimir Putin immediately contacted the presidents of Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan shows the great nervousness in the Kremlin. “However this inner-Russian struggle turns out, Putin hasn’t just lost his teeth over Ukraine, he’s choked on a greedy bite that was too big,” said Strack-Zimmermann.
Scholz stays up to date
According to a government spokesman, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is “continuously informed” about developments in Russia following the uprising by the Wagner mercenary group. “The situation remains quite dynamic. In this respect, we are monitoring it very closely and are also coordinating with our closest allies,” said the spokesman in Berlin. A statement by the chancellor is currently not planned.
From the point of view of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, the possible consequences of the armed uprising by the Wagner mercenary army in Russia for the Ukraine war can hardly be foreseen at the moment. “It’s difficult to estimate, especially since we don’t know how unstable Russia will become and who will ultimately have the upper hand and who will team up with whom,” said the SPD politician on the sidelines of a party conference of Lower Saxony’s Social Democrats in Aurich. It is too early for an assessment, said Pistorius. “If you did that now, you would cloud the open view of what is actually happening.”
When asked about Germany’s options, the minister replied: “In this situation we have no options for action. It is an internal political conflict in Russia. We cannot yet say whether this will develop into a power struggle. We are observers. We are watching very closely, as are all allies, and otherwise remain focused on supporting Ukraine.”
Deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann wrote on Twitter that it was “very interesting” that Russian President Vladimir Putin compared the situation “to 1917”, the “eve of the revolution” in Russia. In fact, in a speech referring to the time of World War I, the head of the Kremlin emphasized that he would not allow a civil war in Russia.
The EU is also following the development of the situation “closely,” wrote EU Council President Charles Michel on Twitter. He was therefore in contact with the European heads of state and government and also with the G7 partner countries, which include the USA, Canada and Japan. France, Italy and Great Britain also stated explicitly that they are constantly monitoring the situation in Russia. Rome called on its citizens in Russia to be “cautious”.
Hardt: “In any case, it weakens Russia in the fight against Ukraine”
In view of the unfolding events, it is difficult to assess the situation in Russia and the impact on the Ukraine war. The foreign policy spokesman for the Union faction, Jürgen Hardt, said on Deutschlandfunk that he thought “everything is possible in Russia in the coming weeks and months – unfortunately also bloody internal battles”.
“In any case, it weakens Russia in the fight against Ukraine,” said the CDU politician with conviction. “These mercenary troops are no longer deployed against the Ukrainian armed forces; they have been neutralized, so to speak, from the Ukrainian point of view.” If there were an open conflict between the Russian military and Wagner mercenaries, regular Russian forces would also be tied down by the uprising and could not be deployed in Ukraine.
The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Bundestag, Michael Roth from the SPD, spoke on Twitter of a “humiliation of Putin” in the eyes of the world public. He couldn’t say “whether the Russian criminal regime is seriously faltering.” But in a “tough dictatorship” it is “tantamount to a super meltdown if someone questions the power of the absolute ruler”.
On Friday evening, the long-simmering power struggle between the Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Russian military leadership escalated. Fighters from Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group invaded Russia from Ukraine and, according to their own statements, took control of military installations in Rostov in southern Russia on Saturday. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Wagner mercenary uprising a “deadly threat” and announced that they would be punished as “traitors”.