Putin will try to drag out the war in Ukraine until after the US elections: he is counting on Biden's defeat - CNN

Russian President Vladimir Putin is counting on the defeat of his American counterpart Joe Biden in the 2024 US presidential election. The Kremlin dictator is betting that a change in the US president will lead to a reduction in support for Ukraine and an improvement in Russia's position in possible negotiations.

In particular, Putin is counting on Biden's predecessor in the White House, Donald Trump, to come to power and help him, so there is a danger that the Kremlin will do its best to delay the war against Ukraine until after the US elections. This was reported by CNN with reference to four senior US officials.

"Senior U.S. and European officials are concerned that Russian President Vladimir Putin is factoring the 2024 U.S. presidential election into his military plan for Ukraine, hoping that President Joe Biden's defeat next year will force the United States to reduce its support for Ukraine and improve Russia's bargaining position," the publication writes.

According to one of CNN's sources, there is "no doubt" that Putin is "trying to hold on" until the 2024 elections. Another source familiar with the intelligence noted that the Kremlin dictator hopes for Trump to come to power.

"Putin knows that Trump will help him. Therefore, although we have not seen anything explicit about this, I believe that everyone thinks so," the official said.

One of the European diplomats interviewed by CNN shared this view. He stressed the widespread belief in Europe that Russia's attempt to "wait out" the war in Ukraine until after the US elections "is exactly Putin's plan".

The publication stressed that the United States currently has no accurate information that Putin is deliberately delaying the war in the hope of Trump's victory.

"But next year's elections remain a key factor that senior Western national security, intelligence and diplomatic officials believe will influence Putin's decisions in Ukraine, making it even less likely that the war will end by the end of next year," the journalists said.

As reported earlier, Trump is leading the GOP presidential primaries by a wide margin.

According to the GOP primaries, 54% of the population is ready to vote for the odious former president, while his rival, Republican Ron DeSantis, is supported by about 17% of conservatives.

It has also been reported that the ICC may issue new arrest warrants for Putin and Russia's top leadership. The reason for this may be the investigation of war crimes by the private military company Wagner. It is noteworthy that the Kremlin dictator actually gave himself up red-handed, as after the mercenaries' attempted mutiny, Wagner admitted that the PMC was fully funded from the Russian budget.

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