(NewsNation) — After the Wagner Group’s attempted revolt against Russia led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder echoed President Joe Biden’s declaration that the U.S. was not involved and said the U.S. will focued on continuing to support Ukraine.
Ryder joined “NewsNation Prime” to discuss the fallout from the incident, saying the Department of Defense (DOD) is keeping a close eye on stability in the region.
“From a DOD standpoint, there’s a few things that we’re going to focus on,” Ryder said. “One is the strategic stability in the region, and there’s no indication that Russia intends to employ any type of strategic forces to include nuclear weapons. And we’ve seen no indication of that. As a result, we have not changed our own conventional or strategic force posture.”
The U.S. has faced accusations that the West had something to do with the revolt.
“I’ll be very clear, we had nothing to do with it. And we won’t have anything to do with it. As I mentioned, it’s an internal matter for the Russian government to address,” Ryder said, adding, “Our focus is going to be on working with Ukraine, with our allies and our partners to ensure that they have what they need as they conduct their operations and defend their nation.”
Ryder also spoke to new reports that say the Chinese spy balloon that floated over the U.S. earlier this year was loaded with American technology that allowed it to collect photos, videos and other information.
“Indications are that, that it was not able to collect intelligence while it was going over the United States,” Ryder told NewsNation, adding, “We’ll continue to look at this. And, you know, if there’s anything new to provide, we certainly will.”
