Blinken: The extraordinary situation in Russia, there are cracks that have not been seen before

But we can say this: First of all, what we have seen is extraordinary. And I think you've seen cracks appear that weren't there before”, said Blinken, partially quoting Wagner's chief, Yevgeny Pigozin, questioning the premises of Russia's war in Ukraine.

CNN reported earlier that US intelligence officials believe Prygozhin, private military group chief Wagner, had planned a major challenge for Russia's military leadership for a long time, but it was unclear what the final goal would be.

Blinken, who has made a series of calls to allies and partners over the weekend, described the situation this way:

This is just one chapter added to a very, very bad book Putin has written about Russia. But what's so surprising about that is that it comes from within”, he said.

The fact that you have from within someone who questions someone's authority, directly questioning the premises that he initiated this aggression against Ukraine. This in itself is very, very powerful. She adds cracks. Where they go, when they get there, very early to say, but clearly raises new questions Putin must deal with, he added.

Prygozhin had pledged on Friday that he would retaliate against the Russian military leadership for an alleged attack on a Wagner military camp and claimed control of military objects in two Russian cities. However, on Saturday afternoon, he published an audio tape claiming he was turning his forces from a march towards Moscow, just hours after a uprising began that posed the greatest threat to Putin's authority in decades.

Blinken said the US has not seen any Russian military official down, claiming that this “needs to be seen”.

There is no secret to the fact that Pigozin was very critical of the military leadership, the defence minister, the head of the armed forces. So how does this unfold about personnel? Everything remains to be seen”, he said.

Blinken said the situation could serve as an advantage for Ukraine after it carries out a counteroffensive.

But any instability in Russia is also disturbing for American officials, given its nuclear status.

Every time you have a big country, like Russia, which has signs of instability, this is something of concern. This is something we're very focused on. When it comes to their nuclear weapons, we have not seen any change in their position and made no difference in our” position, Blinken said.