Joe Biden Takes Orders From China Amid Russian Crisis, Donald Trump Claims

Following the Wagner Group insurrection in Russia, Donald Trump lashed out at President Joe Biden, claiming the crisis would benefit China.

In a Saturday post on his Truth Social network, Trump asserted, without evidence, that "Biden will do regarding Russia whatever Chinese President Xi wants him to do."

Trump Lashed Out at Biden

He then asserted, without evidence, that Biden and his son Hunter "illegally took significant sums of money from both countries, but China is currently the greater concern."

Trump, the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, indicated that China could seize Russian territory in the event of an armed insurrection in Russia. Meanwhile, Biden was spotted on Saturday boarding Marine One for a journey to Camp David with his son Hunter, who consented to plead guilty this week to misdemeanor tax evasion charges.

On Saturday, the Wagner group's leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that the Russian mercenaries who had advanced nearly to Moscow had consented to retreat to prevent carnage.

According to Daily Mail, it represented a de-escalation of a significant challenge to President Vladimir Putin's hold on power. Prigozhin said the Wagner private army's combatants turned back approximately 200 kilometers from the capital.

Prigozhin, a 62-year-old ex-convict, was a longtime ally of Putin and secured lucrative catering contracts at the Kremlin, earning him the moniker 'Putin's chef.'

He garnered notoriety in the United States when he and a dozen other Russian nationals were charged with running a covert social media campaign to sow disorder prior to Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election.

In November of last year, Prigozhin proclaimed publicly that he had attempted to interfere in US elections and promised to continue doing so. This was a significant change of direction for Prigozhin, who had attempted to operate under the radar for years and avoid scrutiny.

China Downplays Wagner Munity

Meanwhile, a failed rebellion by the Wagner group of mercenaries has been described by Chinese officials as Moscow's "internal affairs," while a state media mouthpiece has dismissed the divisions in Russia as an "illusion" exploited by the West.

On Sunday, Russia's deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko met with Chinese officials in Beijing following the most significant challenge to Vladimir Putin's grasp on power since he assumed office in 2000.

China's foreign ministry initially stated that Rudenko and Qin Gang had discussed Sino-Russian relations and "international and regional issues of common concern." Per Guardian, China later stated that it supports Russia's efforts to preserve its national stability.

According to the Russian foreign ministry, China has declared its support for Moscow's leadership. It was unknown when Rudenko arrived in Beijing or whether his trip to Russia's most important ally, China, was in response to the apparent rebellion led by mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin.

On Saturday, an agreement was reached that exempted Wagner's mercenaries from criminal prosecution in exchange for Prigozhin pulling his combatants back to base and his relocation to Belarus.

Putin claimed that the rebellion posed a threat to Russia's very existence. China had previously made no comment on the rebellion. Chinese media had carefully monitored the uprising but largely refrained from commenting prior to official statements.

The Chinese state-controlled newspaper Global Times stated that Prigozhin's "mutiny" was exaggerated, and an "illusion" was created. Russia has numerous internal contradictions, and "the building is disintegrating" was the latest assault by Western media and another attempt to undermine the social cohesion of Russia.

Despite not being formal allies, China and Russia have maintained close ties during Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which Beijing has declined to condemn. The United States and other Western powers have urged Beijing to refrain from providing Russia with munitions that could be used in the Ukraine conflict.