LONDON: Britain is prepared for a range of scenarios in Russia, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Monday, noting the potentially destabilising impact of the tensions between the Wagner Group and President Vladimir Putin.

Putin faced an unprecedented challenge to his authority over the weekend from an abortive mutiny by heavily armed mercenary fighters from the Wagner Group.

The extraordinary events left governments, both friendly and hostile to Russia, groping for answers to what could happen next in the country with the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.

Sunak said Britain was monitoring events carefully.

Wagner ends revolt but Putin’s grip questioned

“It’s too early to predict with certainty what the consequences of this might be, but of course we are prepared as we always would be for a range of scenarios,” Sunak told reporters.

“It’s a situation that we’ve been analysing and monitoring for some time because we’re aware of the potentially destabilising impact of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine and indeed, the tensions between the Wagner Group and the Putin regime.”