Putin is ready for further war: Portnikov on 2024 and developments after US elections

He expressed this opinion on Espreso TV.

"First of all, from my point of view, Russia will be thinking about its plans for 2025 after the US presidential election. After Russia realizes how much of the Ukrainian territory it controls in November 2024, this is two. After it realizes how destabilized the situation in Ukraine is in November 2024, that's three. Imagine that on the day when the results of the US presidential election are known, there will be a Security Council meeting in closed session, and all these factors will be on the table: the territory, the number of people mobilized on the front from the Russian side, the Ukrainian political destabilization - from this they will decide what to do," the journalist explained.

In his opinion, the Russian political leadership will not discuss the possibility of ending the war at all, they are not interested in it. But they can discuss the possibility of converting the war from an intensive phase to a non-intensive one. And what kind of political steps they have to take, considering the new American president. Until then, they will simply drag this situation out. This is one option things could go.

"Another scenario is that the Americans themselves will try to reach an agreement with Russia, but I don't think these agreements will be pleasant for us, because again, imagine the agreements between the United States and Russia in 2024. In any case, we are well aware that in 2024, 20% of Ukrainian territory cannot be liberated from the Russian occupiers, there are no preconditions for this. TThere may be another offensive, some gains, it's true. Because we still have 95% of the equipment supplied by our allies. We are not without weapons, but we need ammunition, because it is not enough," Vitaly Portnikov said.

According to him, war is unpredictable, so it is very difficult to make any assumptions. 

"What is clear is that Vladimir Putin is ready to continue fighting. We already understand that this is a long-distance war, and we have to adapt, not tell people fairy tales. And this is a very important thing because high expectations have a great impact on the public mood. This is the biggest enemy of any war. The main thing in war is realism. I believe that realistic people are the ones with stronger nerves because strong nerves are the main guarantee of survival in war. If you accept the facts, keep them realistic and limit their number, you have a much better chance of surviving this difficult era and being useful to the state than those who live with either rose-colored or black glasses. Take off your glasses, and look at the world, which is not easy, but it creates prospects," Portnikov summarized.