Asselborn expressed his concern, stating that “the situation in Russia is serious.” He pointed out that the current state of affairs was a consequence of President Vladimir Putin’s actions, describing it as a “humiliation” for Putin.
At the time, Asselborn highlighted the potential risk of a civil war in Russia within the next few hours, emphasising that the monopoly on the use of force no longer solely rests with the state.
While the Wagner group has backed down since the minister’s statements, Asselborn also pointed out that there are “dozens of groups like Wagner” in Russia. “Gazprom has one, there’s people like Kadyrov [Head of the Chechen Republic], and their intelligence service also has a group like that.”
Drawing attention to the global ramifications, Asselborn highlighted Russia’s possession of approximately 6,000 nuclear warheads. He warned that complete destabilisation of Russia would pose the greatest danger to the world.
The European Union considers these developments as internal to Russia, viewing them as a domestic evolution. As a result, “there is no need for Russia to caution Western countries against interference.” EU foreign ministers are scheduled to convene on Monday to discuss the situation.
Asselborn acknowledged Putin’s weakened position, attributing it to Yevgeny Prigozhin’s discrediting of the narrative surrounding the Ukraine war, which claimed that NATO and the West were on the verge of invading Russia.
“Should Putin be the one to come out on top,” Asselborn went on to say, “I hope that this won’t make the already existing dictatorship in Russia even worse or lead to the use of more dangerous weaponry.”
Asselborn stressed that the outcome largely depends on domestic sentiments towards Putin and the potential actions of the Wagner Group, should they make it to Moscow.
*This interview was conducted at 7.30pm on Saturday. Shortly thereafter, news broke that Prigozhin had temporarily halted the advance towards Moscow.
Full interview (in Luxembourgish):
