Gordon's statement on the end of the war in Ukraine: Are there any conditions for bringing active hostilities to a close?

On Sunday, December 29, Ukrainian journalist Dmitry Gordon stated that he allegedly has information suggesting that the hot phase of the war will end by the end of this year, expressing confidence in this prediction at 90-95%. He also pointed out that there are currently almost no air raid alerts, missile attacks are absent, and there are fewer drones in the sky.

However, according to Gordon, Putin is supposed to ruthlessly bomb Ukraine before the New Year to create a situation of hardship, with no electricity or heating. Yet, he refrains from doing so because he was allegedly asked not to by Washington.

"And why was he asked not to do this by Washington? Because, pay attention, tomorrow, December 30, 2024, if everything goes well, which it should, a historic meeting is supposed to take place that will conclude the hot phase of the war. There’s not much time left to wait," said Dmitry Gordon.

Meanwhile, according to data from Flightradar, on December 26, a flight from the special aviation squad "Russia," which belongs to Putin's administration, arrived from Saint Petersburg in New York. Following that, it headed to Washington, and two days later, it flew back to New York and then to Moscow.

The End of the Hot Phase of the War: Will It Happen Today?

"If he is claiming that supposedly something was said to Putin, that he was strongly advised, and he listened, but there’s nothing in Western media, at least as of last night, that could confirm his words. Although usually, Americans love to leak such insider information through their journalists," said Stupak.

When asked why Russia has reduced the number of attacks on Ukraine, the expert noted that just last week, the enemy struck Kyiv, while last night drones were flying in the south. However, at the front, there are daily reports of strikes, casualties, and injuries.

"To say that something is being prepared for some kind of halt — there are no indicators for that," he concluded.

Military analyst Dmitry Snegirev believes that the idea of ending the hot phase of the war today is unrealistic. Moreover, ending the war at the current line of contact would not satisfy either the Russian Federation or Ukraine.

According to him, Putin cannot appear for New Year's greetings and announce that the war is over, as Russia has not achieved the goals of the "special military operation," has lost about 700,000 people, the country's economy is in decline, and Donbas is under the control of defense forces. However, the opponent needs at least some conditional victories.

"There are currently no prerequisites to talk about the possibility of ending the active phase of the war," the analyst emphasized.

"Historic Meeting" in the U.S.: What Is It About?

Gordon claims that a "historic meeting" should take place today, but Stupak raised the question: "With whom?" since Biden is already a former president and Trump is a future one, who will only assume his duties on January 20.

"I'm not ready to say whether, for example, Putin will meet with Trump and negotiate while he is not in office. There are many speculations right now; one thought is that Ukraine might be given a certain number of super-duper missiles that could strike Moscow, which may have an effect. Right now, this is more in the realm of speculation," the expert emphasized.

Snegirev noted that it is known from monitoring the movement of aviation that someone from the Russian government was in the U.S. for several days. As a result, Gordon's statement provokes "light irony."

Furthermore, the analyst is convinced that no peace agreements will be signed during Biden's presidency. However, he does not rule out the possibility of consultations and the agreement on the framework for ending the war.

"Here, Gordon is putting on a secretive face when this fact is known to everyone. But the historic meeting... we will see, there are two days left, but based on the analysis of the situation at the line of contact, discussing the possibility of ending the active phase of the war today would be problematic," concluded Dmitry Snegirev.

Recall that on December 26, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia wants to end the war in Ukraine. According to him, the "number one" task in 2025 is to achieve all the goals of the "special military operation."

On December 22, newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he looks forward to meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.