White House monitoring situation in Russia

WASHINGTON, June 24 (AFP): The White House was following the situation in Russia after the head of the Wagner mercenary group called for an "armed mutiny" against Moscow top brass, a spokesman said Friday, adding that President Joe Biden had been briefed.
"We are monitoring the situation and will be consulting with allies and partners on these developments," National Security Council spokesman Adam Hodge said.
Ukraine organises peace
meeting in Denmark
Denmark on Saturday hosts a meeting organised by Ukraine bringing together several nations-including those who have remained neutral on the Russian invasion-to discuss a path towards peace.
Few details have leaked about the meeting. However a Western official speaking on condition of anonymity said that White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan would attend.
The meeting in Copenhagen aims to discuss ways of achieving a "just and lasting peace" in Ukraine, the source said.
The invitees include top security officials from the United States, the European Union and other countries that have backed Ukraine since Russia invaded last year, as well as those that have not condemned the invasion, the source added.
They did not specify which countries.
"We have worked very hard inside (the) G7 on a peace formula," said a European diplomatic source, also speaking on condition of anonymity.
"So the idea is to go beyond that and involve key actors like Brazil and India. We frankly expect and wish that China will be there."
The meeting was first reported by the UK's Financial Times.
It cited sources familiar with the plans as saying the meeting could include officials from Brazil, India and South Africa, although the list of attendees had not been finalised.
Those three states, along with China, are part of the BRICS bloc with Russia, and have not joined the West in sanctioning Moscow.
The FT cited a source saying that Kyiv had asked Washington to encourage Brazil, India and South Africa to attend, as well as China and Turkey-a NATO member that has kept good ties with Russia.
At a Saturday morning press conference, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said his foreign policy advisor Celso Amorim was "at this moment" in Copenhagen "where he was taking part in a meeting with several other countries to try to start peace talks".
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Washington on Thursday, where he said in a joint statement with US President Joe Biden, that he backed the "territorial integrity" of Ukraine.
The discussions in Denmark are expected to be informal, without a resulting official statement.
But they are seen as a milestone on the path to a peace summit organised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
A date has not yet been set for this summit, which could be held in Copenhagen or Paris in the coming months, but the EU has said "substantial" preparation was necessary.
"We consider that it is fundamental to have as broad support as possible from the international community," said the European diplomat.
Security tightened in
several Russian regions
The mayor of Moscow said on Saturday that "anti-terror" measures were being taken in the Russian capital after the chief of mercenary group Wagner vowed to bring down the country's military leadership.
Authorities in the regions of Rostov and Lipetsk also said security had been reinforced there.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin said earlier his units, which spearheaded an assault in eastern Ukraine, had entered the southern region of Rostov.
"In connection with the incoming information in Moscow, anti-terrorist measures aimed at strengthening security are being taken," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on social media.
Lipetsk governor Igor Artamonov said he was in a meeting with members of the FSB security service.
The FSB has launched a probe into calls to stage an "armed rebellion".
Prigozhin, who has for months been mired in a feud with the defence ministry, on Friday accused Moscow of targeting his forces with deadly missile strikes and vowed to retaliate.
He urged Russians to join his forces and punish Moscow's military leadership in the most audacious challenge to President Vladimir Putin since the start of the offensive in Ukraine last year.
Putin speaks to allies
in Belarus, Central Asia
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday spoke to his Belarus ally, President Alexander Lukashenko, in his first international phone call since a mutiny by Wagner mercenaries inside Russia.
"The president of Russia called the president of Belarus this morning, there was a phone conversation," Belarusian state media reported.
"Vladimir Putin informed his Belarusian colleague about the situation in Russia."
Lukashenko, who allowed Russian troops to use Belarusian territory as a launchpad for their Ukraine offensive, has remained Putin's closest ally.
The Kremlin later said Putin also spoke to the president of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, and the president of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
"The president informed them about the situation (in Russia)," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.
According to Kazakh media, Tokayev told Putin that events in Russia were an "internal affair," and Putin thanked him for his "understanding" of the situation.
Putin, who has few allies on the international stage after launching the Ukraine offensive last year, called the Wagner mutiny a "stab in the back."