With Wagner rebellion over, is Vladimir Putin still chasing payback? CIA chief weighs in

CIA Director William J. Burns warned that the dust of Russia's Wagner Group's rebellion is yet to settle, with President Vladimir Putin likely playing the long game to take down the group's chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin. In a conversation with the Aspen Security forum on Thursday, Burns said that what the world is seeing at this point of time is "a very complicated dance between Prigozhin and Putin."

"I think Putin is someone who generally thinks that revenge is a dish best served cold," he said, referring to the president as "the ultimate apostle of payback" who will continue to seek vengeance despite concluding the group's short-lived mutiny last month through a deal.

"I would be surprised if Prigozhin escapes further retribution for this. In that sense … if I were Prigozhin, I wouldn't fire my food taster," he cautioned. 

However, this in itself is a dilemma for Putin, who does not want to display that he is "overreacting to things" while also attempting to break apart Prigozhin and his fighters. According to Burns, the private mercenaries are "useful" to the Kremlin, especially due to their operations overseas in Libya, Syria, and Africa.

"I think what he’s going to do is separate Prigozhin and undercut him but preserve what’s of value to him," he said. 

CIA boss opens up about Russian spy recruitment, Ukraine counteroffensive

Touching upon the CIA's recent campaign ad to lure dissatisfied Russians, Burns revealed that the recruitment drive had gained immense attention and had amassed over 2.5 million views on Telegram within the first week. "The truth is there’s a lot of disaffection in Russia, in the elite and outside it in Russia right now, and we’re not wasting the opportunity as an intelligence service to try and take advantage of it," he explained.

On Ukraine's counteroffensive against Russia, Burns expressed hope, while also admitting that it has been a "hard slog" which will take some time to make substantial progress. But declaring himself as an "optimist," the CIA boss said that Kyiv can still make advances and the intelligence agency remains prepared to provide any help.