Former White Home nationwide safety adviser John Bolton advised Friday that U.S. help for Ukraine will seemingly dwindle if former President Trump is elected in November, saying “It’s toast.”
His feedback got here after Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met briefly at Trump Tower in New York Metropolis. Throughout the go to, the previous president claimed he may shortly dealer a deal to finish the Russia-Ukraine struggle.
Requested by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins why the 2 met, Bolton pointed to “political reasons.”
“I think for political reasons. I think he knew that obviously Zelensky had been in Washington. He had met with President Biden. He had met with Vice President Harris,” Bolton advised Collins, the host of “The Source,” in an interview. “I think it’s designed, to calm the nerves of some Republicans … who despise Trump and don’t want to vote for him but are afraid of the radicalism of the Democratic Party, and they’re rationalizing, in their own minds.”
“Surely Trump won’t sell out Ukraine,” he continued. “So, that this is the kind of picture that helps convince them that indeed, Trump won’t be so bad.”
Bolton added, “I’d just like to break that bubble, because I think it’s, in terms of American support for Ukraine, if Trump wins, I think it’s toast.”
Trump, following his assembly with the Ukrainian president and regardless of his deep skepticism of continued support to the nation, mentioned it was “an honor” to talk with Zelensky. He lauded the connection between the 2 leaders, and mentioned he would work with Ukraine and Russia to “get this settled.”
“We’re going to work very much with both parties to try and get this settled,” Trump mentioned Friday. “I think that we can work out something that’s good for both sides. It’s time. By the way, the president [Zelensky] knows that too. He wants to get something done. He doesn’t want to do this.”
The previous president signaled that Russian President Vladimir Putin would additionally wish to cease the struggle. Requested if he agrees, Bolton mentioned “absolutely.”
“Look, I think Putin knows that he has, although he’s doubled the amount of territory in Ukraine that Russia controls, since 2014, they have paid a high price for it,” he mentioned Friday. “He’d like to … draw a line under this, so he can help recover the Russian economy, convince the Europeans to buy natural gas from Russia again, and re-equip and retrain his army, so that he can go after Ukraine again, in a few years.”
“And that is exactly what he will do if there’s a cease-fire, along the lines Trump is talking about,” Bolton added.
Zelensky’s go to with Trump got here a day after he was welcomed to the White Home by President Biden and Vice President Harris. Throughout the assembly in Washington, which adopted Biden’s announcement of an estimated $8 billion support bundle for Ukraine, he laid out his “victory plan” for ending the nearly-three-year struggle.
The Ukrainian chief additionally met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
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