What foreign govts are saying

Al Jazeera and News Agencies :
Governments around the world are closely watching the events rapidly unfolding in Russia, where a mutiny by the Wagner mercenary group has posed the most serious challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s long rule.

Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin on Saturday said his fighters had crossed from Ukraine into the Russian border city of Rostov-on-Don, taking control of military facilities in the city, including the airfield.
During an emergency televised address in Moscow, Putin promised to crush what he called an “armed mutiny” and an act of treason.
Here is what governments and political institutions are saying about the extraordinary situation taking place in nuclear-armed Russia:
UkraineUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Wagner mutiny showed Russia was weak.
“Russia’s weakness is obvious. Full-scale weakness. And the longer Russia keeps its troops and mercenaries on our land, the more chaos, pain, and problems it will have for itself later,” he said in a statement on social media.
“Anyone who chooses the path of evil destroys themselves,” Zelenskyy also wrote on Twitter. “For a long time, Russia used propaganda to mask its weakness and the stupidity of its government. And now there is so much chaos that no lie can hide it.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba urged the international community to “abandon false neutrality” on Russia and provide Kyiv all of the weapons it needs to push Moscow’s forces out of Ukrainian territory. “Those who said Russia was too strong to lose: look now,” he posted on Twitter.
Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said, “the next 48 hours will define the new status of Russia”.
“Either a full-fledged civil war, or a negotiated transit of power, or a temporary respite before the next phase of the downfall of the Putin regime,” he wrote on Twitter.
United States
US President Joe Biden was briefed on the situation in Russia and Washington and “will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments”, National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US “will stay in close coordination with Allies and partners as the situation continues to develop”.
United Kingdom
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urged “all parties to be responsible and to protect civilians”.
“We’re in touch with our allies as the situation evolves. I’ll be speaking to some of them later today and the most important thing is for all parties to behave responsibly,” he told the BBC. The country’s defence ministry said that “over the coming hours, the loyalty of Russia’s security forces, and especially the Russian National Guard, will be key to how this crisis plays out.”
“This represents the most significant challenge to the Russian state in recent times,” it said.
It added that Wagner troops had “almost certainly” occupied key security sites in Rostov-on-Don and that “further Wagner units were moving north through Voronezh Oblast, almost certainly aiming to get to Moscow”.
“With very limited evidence of fighting between Wagner and Russian security forces, some have likely remained passive, acquiescing to Wagner,” it said.
European Union
European Council chief Charles Michel tweeted the bloc was “closely monitoring the situation in Russia as it unfolds. In touch with European leaders and @G7 partners.
“This is clearly an internal Russian issue,” he tweeted, adding “our support for Ukraine” is “unwavering”.
Germany
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has spoken to her counterparts within the Group of Seven industrialised nations, the foreign ministry in Berlin said, adding the German government’s crisis team was also meeting.

“German nationals in Russia should definitely take advantage of our adapted travel advice,” Baerbock said earlier, after the ministry told travellers to avoid Moscow city centre.German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said it is too early to guess the possible consequences of the armed uprising and what it may mean for the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine. “That is difficult to assess, especially since we do not know how unstable Russia will become and who will ultimately have the upper hand and who will join forces with whom,” he said.
France
French President Emmanuel Macron “is following the situation very closely,” the Elysee said. “We remain focused on supporting Ukraine.”
Italy
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said the events taking place in Russia showed “how the aggression against Ukraine is causing instability also within Russia”, her office said in a statement.
Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said for the moment there was no concern for Italians living in Russia, but said they were “advised to be cautious”.
Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada’s incident response group will meet to discuss the latest developments in Russia.
“We’re in contact with our allies and will continue to monitor the situation closely,” Trudeau wrote on Twitter.