European intelligence believes that Russia may try to attack Europe in the winter of 2024-2025, reports the German tabloid Bild, writes Ukrainian Pravda.

Why would Russia attack right then?

German tabloid Bild quoted a European intelligence source as saying that Russia could attack Europe when the US is “leaderless”, delaying aid it could provide to European countries.

At the same time, he means the time after the US presidential election in November 2024 and before the inauguration of the newly elected president in January 2025.

An intelligence source told Bild that the Russian government hopes former President Donald Trump will be re-elected; if that’s the case, “anything could happen,” the source said.

Earlier, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that the European defense industry needs time to develop its capabilities.

“Now we have about five to eight years to recover – from the point of view of the armed forces, industry and society,” Boris Pistorius said.

In what situation would Putin be ready to negotiate a ceasefire

The New York Times reported, citing its sources, that Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled behind closed doors that Russia was open to a ceasefire along the current front line.

The ceasefire that Putin wants would mean that Russia would keep its illegally occupied territories in Ukraine, where the population is being abducted and executed without trial.

“He is really willing to stop at the current positions,” a former senior Russian official told the New York Times. “But he doesn’t want to back down,” the former official added.

On the other hand, the president of the Czech Republic, retired general Petr Pavel, said this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin is waiting for the results of the presidential election in the United States, hoping to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine with Donald Trump without the involvement of any European country.

“President Putin has made it absolutely clear that there can be no peace talks until after the elections in the United States. In this way, he clearly made it clear that for him, the partner for possible negotiations is none other than the USA and not any of the important European countries,” Pavel said in an interview with the Czech newspaper Seznam Zpravy.

The Prague leader warned that if Donald Trump becomes US president again, Putin may try to negotiate with him, “regardless of what Ukraine or the rest of Europe thinks about it.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi also commented on the influence that Donald Trump will have if he returns for a new term in the White House.

• “If the policy of the next president, whoever he is, will be different towards Ukraine, colder or more economic, then I think that these signals will greatly affect the course of the war”
• Donald Trump has “a different personality than Joe Biden” and therefore will pursue “different policies.”
• A possible reduction in American aid may affect aid to the European Union, which “will definitely have an impact and definitely not positive for Ukraine,” Zelenskyy warned