LONDON ¨C Cold winters helped Moscow defeat Napoleon and Hitler. President Vladimir Putin is now betting that sky-rocketing energy prices and possible shortages this winter will persuade Europe to strong-arm Ukraine into a truce ¡ª on Russia¡¯s terms.
That, say two Russian sources familiar with Kremlin thinking, is the only path to peace that Moscow sees, given Kyiv says it will not negotiate until Russia leaves all of Ukraine.
¡°We have time, we can wait,¡± said one source close to the Russian authorities, who declined to be named because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
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