CIA chief warns, ‘if I were Prigozhin, I wouldn’t fire my food taster’ as Putin is buying time to decide what to do

The head of the CIA Director William Burns said Vladimir Putin could still take revenge on the Wagner chief.

Director Burns believes the Russian leader is trying to buy time by working out how best to deal with Yevgeny Prigozhin after his brief rebellion last month.

The Wagner mercenaries have “exposed significant weaknesses in the system Putin has built.”

The CIA chief said, “What [Putin’s] going to try to do is separate Prigozhin and undercut him, but preserve what’s of value to him.”

He thinks Putin will want to keep the Wagner group for himself and cut Prigozhin loose as the “ultimate apostle of payback.”

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Burns said speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado that Prigozhin has “moved around a bit. I think he’s been in Minsk lately.

“I’m not sure he has any plans to retire in the suburbs of Minsk. But he spent time in Russia, as well.”

The US President Joe Biden said earlier this month, that there was a risk Prigozhin could be poisoned, warning, “if I were he, I’d be careful what I ate”.

The CIA director echoed his comments, saying, “If I were Prigozhin, I wouldn’t fire my food taster.
“I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution for this.”

Poland announced on Friday that they are moving more troops to the eastern front as the Wagner chief, Prigozhin is now in Belarus training his mercenaries.

The head of Poland’s security committee, Zbigniew Hoffmann, warned that the training drills between Wagner and Belarusian soldiers is “undoubtedly a provocation.”

Hoffman told state run media that the defence minister has moved troops to the eastern front after they have analysed all “possible threats.”

Prigozhin said that Wagner fighters training Belarusian troops will make them the second best army in the world, and Poland are concerned Wagner mercenaries could splinter off.