In a phone conversation with President Joe Biden on Sunday after the military uprising by the Wagner mercenary organization, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed the frailty of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Yesterday’s events exposed the weakness of Putin’s regime,” Zelenskyy said he told Biden, according to a June 25 statement from Ukraine’s presidential office.
After accusing Russian military troops of murdering several Wagner soldiers in their field camps in Ukraine, Wagner commander Yevgeny Prigozhin and his men took control of Rostov-on-Don, a vital logistical center for Russia's war activities in Ukraine. The mercenaries then marched hundreds of kilometers toward Moscow before an agreement to retreat forced them to stop.
As part of the agreement, Prigozhin promised to depart Russia for Belarus in exchange for the dismissal of his criminal charges. Putin, though, promised the rebels would get "inevitable punishment" before the agreement.
Zelenskyy hailed the president for his "unflagging support" of Ukraine and tweeted that his chat with Biden was "positive and inspiring."
“We discussed the course of hostilities and the processes taking place in Russia. The world must put pressure on Russia until international order is restored,” Zelenskyy wrote. “We discussed further expansion of defense cooperation, with an emphasis on long-range weapons.”
Zelenskyy said that he expressed gratitude to Biden for giving Ukraine Patriot defense systems and for the president's backing of the "fighter jet coalition."
“It is important to further increase [Ukraine’s] capabilities to protect our skies. In this context, I also thanked him for supporting the fighter jet coalition,” Zelenskyy added.
Biden and Zelenskyy reportedly spoke about "recent events" in Russia, according to a readout from the White House.
“They discussed Ukraine’s ongoing counter-offensive, and President Biden reaffirmed unwavering U.S. support, including through continued security, economic, and humanitarian aid,” the White House said.
