Part of the fallout for Vladimir Putin, now that his former close associate Yevgeny Prigohzin is reportedly leading a revolt and directing his Wagner Group troops back north, is the reality that the Russian president no longer knows who he can trust.
That is the opinion of the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor during an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday morning.
Speaking with host Jonathan Capehart, Taylor suggested Putin is facing an existential crisis as he faces what could turn into a coup.
"Kremlin critic Bill Browder tells NBC News that the Wagner mutiny quote, 'is the most credible threat to Putin since the start of his regime' some 23 years ago. Do you agree?" host Capehart began.
"Absolutely," Taylor quickly shot back. "Jonathan, this is a big threat to Putin. He is facing this and he doesn't know where the loyalties are going to be. He doesn't know if his troops are going to be loyal."
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'He has been very close with Prigozhin and for Prigozhin to turn on him with significant forces, significant military forces that have done frankly pretty well in Ukraine; for Prigozhin to turn away from the fight in Ukraine and turn his focus and his force on the Russian military, it's a real threat to President Putin."
He later continued, "We could expect him to try to cross this rebellion, to crush this mutiny. We can certainly expect him to be getting the orders to the Ministry of Defense forces that are now fighting against and trying to prepare for a big fight against Prigozhin -- we can expect him to really focus on that.
"He now has to focus on Prigozhin, which gives him a focus inside the country and so that is going to be his priority -- he's got big problems," he added.
Watch below or at the link.
MSNBC 06 24 2023 09 06 34youtu.be
