Blinken warns Wagner boss against Russia's 'open-window policy'; 'If I were Prigozhin...'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday, July 21 warned the Wagner group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin of Russia's intentions, joking that while NATO has an open door policy, Russia has an "open-window policy."  “If I were Mr. Prigozhin, I would remain very concerned. NATO has an open-door policy; Russia has an open-windows policy," Blinken said, taking a swipe at the Russia-backed paramilitary company.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, Blinken addressed the founder of the Wagner Group as he warned about the mishap of falling mysteriously from the window for organising a rebellion against Russia's President Vladimir Putin. 

'No exact clarification about the consequences or impact of Prigozhin's mutiny': Blinken

Blinken stressed that while he had no exact clarification about the consequences or impact of Prigozhin's mutiny in Russia last month,  it is evident that there are "cracks" in Putin's power. Blinken remarked that Ukraine's defense has "what they need to be very successful" as he pledged United States' unwavering support for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's forces fighting the Russian troops on their own territory in the occupied regions. Commenting on the Wagner uprising against Russia's military leadership last month, Blinken had said that the turmoil has weakened Putin in ways that could help Ukraine’s counteroffensive, in a way that could also benefit neighbouring Poland and the Baltic states.

In his take about Russia's President Putin's covert meeting with the Wagner chief  Prigozhin in Kremlin, Blinken had suggested that the world has yet to see the last of "Putin-Prigozhin drama." “I don’t think we’ve seen the last chapter in this drama. The fact that Putin met with Prigozhin, look, it’s an internal matter. Putin is clearly trying to work his way through something,” Blinken stated in televised remarks on MSNBC. “But this was a direct challenge to his authority, a direct challenge to the basic premises of the war that he laid out. And I don’t think we’ve seen the last of it,” the latter warned. “I don’t think we’ve seen the final act." Blinken added that the Ukraine's allies have seen "more cracks emerge in the Russian facade," adding that "we have all sorts of new questions that Putin is going to have to address in the weeks and months ahead."

Earlier US President Joe Biden had similarly mocked Russian President Putin and PMC Wagner founder Prigozhin for their political tussle by evoking the poisoning cases of the political enemies in Moscow. During a press conference, Biden cautioned Wagner's boss to look out for any poisoning attempts against him that could be covertly planned by the Kremlin to take him out. “If I were he I’d be careful what I ate. I’d keep my eye on my menu,” Biden said during a joint press conference with Finnish President Sauli Niinistö in Helsinki.