that president biden has also spoken with u.s. allies. according to a white house readout he has spoken to the leader o ers of france, germany the u.k. the leaders discussed the situation in russia. they also affirmed their unwavering support for ukraine. this is a trio that president biden has been in regular touch with. all of this coming against the backdrop of regular briefings that president biden is receiving on the situation in russia. we have also learned that president biden was briefed by his national security advisor as well as the secretary of state antony blinken and secretary of defense austin. all of these discussions happening as this situation evolves on the ground in russia. we know as early as january american officials had been monitoring this power struggle with the metavrcenary wagner gr
and the russian government, believing tensions would mount. that is what we re seeing on the ground now. they re having continued conversations with allies and partners. earlier this morning secretary of state of blinken also had a call with g7 allies and eu counterparts. all of these conversation happening behind the scenes as they try to wrap their arms around this. the president and vice president will be briefed throughout the day. so as the drama unfolded in russia friday, the ukrainian defense ministry tweeted simply, we are watching. so what does this crisis in moscow mean for the war in ukraine? cnn is on the ground right after this quick break. the subway series is taking your favorites to the next level.
state antony blinken called g7 allies to discuss the situation and are watching the situation very closely, while president biden has been briefed as well. sources tell cnn the white house was caught off guard by the speed with which this crisis has unfolded. christiane. thank you. we have cnn s chief international security correspondent nick paton walsh, jim schiotto and wesley clark. we know about wagner. we know it s managed to be pretty much the only results-based group in this misconceived invasion against ukraine. what do you think is at the
leaders. he spoke to the leaders of france, germany, and the united kingdom. in a readout of that call, the white house said that, quote, the leaders discussed the situation in russia. they also affirmed their unwavering support of ukraine. this is a trio that has been closely aligned over the course of the war in ukraine and all leaders that president biden has kept in close touch with. so this is a critical call that happened earlier today. now, of course, as of early january, american officials have been watching this struggle, this power struggle through intelligence between the mercenary wagner group and the russian government. officials believe that tensions would mount, and that is what we are seeing play out on the ground now. now, a key part of the strategy for the white house has been staying in touch with allies and partners, not only president biden but top officials. secretary of state antony blinken spoke earlier today with g7 allies and eu counterparts again reaffirming
what putin has. i guess if putin wanted to, he could stop it. or are we at a taliban point in august of 2021 when they saw the writing on the wall, the afghan forces saw they weren t going to get supported neither by the nato allies or their own president and they kind of melted away and the taliban took over without much of a fight. it s a great comparison. the best estimate is that wagner forces are 25,000, certainly nothing to compare to the larger russian military. his hope is that some of the russian forces don t stand in his way and he builds momentum to get larger, to snowball. it s almost impossible to predict at this point. at least we haven t seen enormous resistance.