Former ambassador: US ‘rightfully concerned’ chaos in Russia is ‘very dangerous’

by Julia Mueller - 06/25/23 4:01 PM ET

Russian servicemen guard an area standing in front of a tank in a street in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, Saturday, June 24, 2023. Russia’s security services have responded to mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s declaration of an armed rebellion by calling for his arrest. In a sign of how seriously the Kremlin took the threat, security was heightened in Moscow, Rostov-on-Don and other regions. (Vasily Deryugin, Kommersant Publishing House via AP)

Former United States ambassador to Russia John Sullivan on Sunday said the U.S. is “rightfully concerned” that chaos in Russia after the short-lived rebellion over the weekend is “very dangerous.”

Moderator Margaret Brennan asked Sullivan on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” whether, in the current situation, Russian President Vladimir Putin is preferable for Russian leadership to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Wagner Group chief who mounted the rebellion.

“Well, he’s certainly a known quantity. He’s a hardened adversary of the United States, but the alternative could be worse,” Sullivan said of Putin.

“So I think the Biden administration is rightfully concerned … with chaos and uncertainty in Russia, with their nuclear arsenal, it’s very dangerous, not just for the United States, but for the world,” the former ambassador said.

Prigozhin launched an armed rebellion to oust Russia’s defense minister on Friday, accusing Sergei Shoigu of ordering a strike on Wagner’s field camps in Ukraine.

Prigozhin’s fighters reached Rostov-on-Don, the location of Russia’s military headquarters in the southern region, and began moving toward Moscow as Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee opened a criminal case against him.

Prigozhin on Saturday ordered his forces to stop their advance on Moscow. He reportedly reached a deal with the Kremlin and has agreed to move to Belarus.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday said the rebellion shows “cracks in the Russian facade” as Moscow also deals with a Ukrainian counteroffensive in Russia’s 16-month war on its neighbor. The Institute for the Study of War said Sunday that Russia is facing a “deeply unstable equilibrium.”