CIA chief says 'would be surprised' if Wagner's Prigozhin escapes retribution

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is buying time before taking revenge against Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin over the mutiny last month, according to CIA Director William Burns.

"I think Putin is someone who generally thinks that revenge is a dish best served cold. So he is going to try to settle the situation to the extent he can," Burns said during a conversation at Aspen Security Forum in the US state of Colorado on Thursday.

"But again, in my experience, Putin is the ultimate apostle of payback, so I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution for this," he said.

On June 24, Prigozhin accused the Russian Defense Ministry of attacking the group’s fighters, declared a “March of Justice” and set off toward Moscow.

The Russian Federal Security Service designated the group’s action “an armed rebellion” and opened a criminal case against Prigozhin, while Russian President Vladimir Putin called the private military company's uprising an act of “treason.”

Prigozhin later turned back “to avoid bloodshed” and has since moved to Belarus under a deal brokered by President Alexander Lukashenko.