For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails
Please enter a valid email address
Please enter a valid email address
SIGN UP
I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice
Thanks for signing up to the
Breaking News email
{{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}
Vladimir Putin will not consider ending his invasion of Ukraine until he knows the result of the 2024 US presidential election, a senior official from the Joe Biden administration has said.
Experts have said Russia appears content to grind down Ukraine’s resolve in the conflict rather than risk losing yet more troops in an all-out assault, and that wearing down the patience of Kyiv’s Western allies appears to be a key part of that strategy.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Biden administation has dedicated over $60bn in aid to Ukraine, with a significant portion exceeding the $43bn budget allocated for military assistance. Further funding is being held up by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, with Democrats outraged by the latest GOP efforts to tie Ukraine aid to a crackdown on immigration to the US.
A senior US State Department official made the suggestion after a meeting of Nato foreign ministers in Brussels during which they agreed that a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia was unlikely to come within the next year.
“My expectation is that Putin won’t make a peace or a meaningful peace before he sees the result of our election," said the official, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.
RECOMMENDED
George Harrison’s sarcastic response after being stabbed 40 times
Undo
Nasa has received a signal from 10 million miles away
Undo
Interactive Brokers
Start trading like a professional today!Interactive Brokers| Sponsored Sponsored
Undo
investing.com
Greta Thunberg's Car Shocks The World, Proof In Picturesinvesting.com| Sponsored Sponsored
Undo
Powered by Taboola Powered by Taboola
The official said it was a “widely shared premise” at the meeting and not his personal opinion.
The participants in the Nato meeting expressed strong support for Ukraine as they agreed that a peace deal was not on the cards in the short term.
Promoted stories
WorldFamilys.com
母狮子向摄影师求助 – 他很惊讶并想知道其中的原因WorldFamilys.com
Undo
by Taboola by Taboola
Sponsored Links Sponsored Links
Promoted Links Promoted Links
The official did not directly mention former president Donald Trump or how the election result would affect Western support for Ukraine.
But Mr Trump, the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, has criticised the Biden administration for its financial support and military exports to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion. He has also lavishly praised the Russian leader in the past and emphasised he had a good relationship with him.
Mr Trump has said that he would end Russia’s invasion in a day if he won back the White House, without explaining how he would do so.
And he has called on Congress to withhold additional Ukraine funding till the FBI, IRS and Justice Department “hand over every scrap of evidence” on the Biden family’s business dealings.
“We believe that the support will be there and will be sustained even if there are some dissident voices on the other side of the aisle,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in August. “We believe that at the core there is still a strong bipartisan foundation of support for our Ukraine policy and for supporting and defending Ukraine.”
Opinion polls see Mr Trump and Mr Biden as locked in a tight race for the White House, with Mr Trump marginally leading his Democratic rival. A hypothetical head-to-head Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in mid-November gave Mr Trump 51 per cent to Mr Biden’s 49 per cent.
Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky recently invited Mr Trump to fly in to Kyiv himself to see the scale of the conflict, as he called for more aid from Washington.
“If he can come here, I will need 24 minutes – yes, 24 minutes… to explain (to) President Trump that he can’t manage this war. He can’t bring peace because of Putin,” Mr Zelensky said.
More about Vladimir Putin Joe Biden US Ukraine Donald Trump US State Department Brussels Nato
Join our commenting forum Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments
1/ 1Putin won’t consider stopping Ukraine war until US election – official
Putin won’t consider stopping Ukraine war until US election – official
File: Russian president Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump hold a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019
SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images
Read More Comments
Collapse Comments
？ Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Subscribe
Already subscribed? Log in