One US official said they have “no doubt” that Putin is “trying to hold out” until the 2024 election. Another source familiar with the intelligence said “it’s sort of the elephant in the room” for the US, Ukraine and Europe. Trump, the far-and-away front-runner for the GOP nomination at this point, has not committed to backing Ukraine in the war. Ron DeSantis walked back previous statements calling the war in Ukraine a “territorial dispute” he has maintained a broadly anti-interventionist policy. “Putting a shape on the US election will have an enormous effect” in how the war proceeds, the official said.

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Persons: Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, ”, Putin, “ Putin, Trump, Biden, Ron DeSantis, Kevin McCarthy, Daniel Fried, Gian Marco Benedetto, Bill Taylor, Patrick Ryder, Matt Miller Organizations: Washington CNN —, CNN, Western, ”, Trump, Republican, Ukraine, GOP, Florida Gov, Congressional Republicans, Anadolu Agency, “, New York Times, Pentagon Locations: Ukraine, Europe, European, Poland, Japan, Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, Russia, India