Photo: AFP/Anadolu Agency/Arkady Budnitsky
Eurasia
27/06/2023 20:39
"This is Russia’s internal affair. As Russia’s friendly neighbour and comprehensive strategic partner of coordination for the new era, China supports Russia in maintaining national stability and achieving development and prosperity," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson stressed in an online statement on Sunday.
Some Chinese experts believe that the withdrawal of the Wagner soldiers is a rational choice as Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's top priority is to gain more attention, especially from Putin, to bring up his demands rather than launching a real mutiny against the Russian leadership, according to the Global Times.
Despite the Western media saying that the revolt exposed the weakness of the Putin administration, the rebellion was quelled in such a short period of time after Putin vowed to take decisive actions on Saturday morning. This in fact shows that the Kremlin maintains a strong capability of deterrence, which will further increase its authority, some experts said.
"Prigozhin has not actually launched a coup against the Russian government but protesting in such a way to express his dissatisfaction toward top Russian defense officials and to demand better treatment for the Wagner group," Wang Yiwei, an international relations professor at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times on Sunday.
"Thinking that this revolt targets Putin is wishful thinking, as some Western politicians are used to looking at Russian politics in their imagination, showing that they don't understanding the basic conditions of Russia," Wang said, according to the article.
The Times of Israel reported that Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi spoke by phone today with Russian President Vladimir Putin and expressed his “full support” following the aborted mutiny of a mercenary chief, the Kremlin said.
“The Iranian president expressed full support for the Russian leadership in connection with the June 24 events,” the Kremlin says. Putin also received a call from Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who also expressed his backing, the Kremlin added, according to the article.