John Bolton: Trump admires Putin, will find the culprit in the person of Zelensky, and this will be very bad for Ukraine

Dangerous time for Russia – in China they remember that the lands around Vladivostok were theirs, says the former US special representative to the UN and national security adviser to President Donald Trump

Interview of Ksenia Sokolyanskaya, Current time TV

– In your opinion, are the crisis with the Middle East and Iran a greater danger to global peace than Russia? US National Security Council Chairman John Kirby said Israel needs US help, but doesn’t the same apply to Ukraine?

– Iran is ruled by a group of medieval religious fanatics who are bent on getting nuclear weapons. It is a very dangerous force and it is part of the “Beijing-Moscow” axis that has formed. But Russia is a powerful nuclear state with thousands of warheads and the means to launch them. Iran does not have that.
Russia has already started a war against Ukraine twice – in 2014 and in 2022. And neither Ukraine nor the West was able to respond effectively. So, of course, Russia remains a threat, especially because of the strengthening of this axis with China.
And this threat will remain until Vladimir Putin is somehow removed from power and until the democratic forces in Russia get another chance. I don’t know when that will happen. I’m not very optimistic. But until then, nothing will change in Russia.

– Bloomberg reported that Kiev is in the most vulnerable position since the beginning of the war two years ago. Do you agree with this assessment and are there any ways out of this situation?

– I think that Ukraine was most vulnerable at the beginning of the full-scale war. The Russian attack failed thanks to stubborn resistance and, to a large extent, luck. The Russians failed to capture the Antonov airfield on the outskirts of Kiev, where they could deliver their troops by transport aircraft.
Instead, they had to form in long motorcades, which the Ukrainians shot. Coincidence played a large part in this, although I give credit to the Ukrainian resistance.
But Ukraine could very quickly lose the war.
I think Putin is waiting for Trump.
Now there is danger if the US does not quickly resolve the question of aid to Ukraine. At the congressional hearings, it became clear that for every Ukrainian projectile, Russia fires 5-6 of its own. It can’t go on like this for long.
Ukraine has to save ammunition. The best we can hope for until after the US presidential election is a freeze on the conflict, because, in my opinion, Putin is waiting for Trump. And if they elect him as president, then I personally will be very worried about the fate of Ukraine.

– Why the Ukraine aid bill had a hard time getting Congressional approval. Is it only related to Ukraine?

– Ukraine is only part of the problem. It has a lot to do with the growing isolationism of the Republican Party. I associate this process with the personality of Donald Trump, but this tendency towards isolation, this tension has always existed. It’s just that now all this has intensified and acquired a political color. The claim that “Biden is more worried about the Ukrainian border than about our own border with Mexico” became a support of the Republicans.
This, of course, is nonsense. The crisis on the Mexican border in no way justifies the situation with aid to Ukraine. But this is an election year, no surprise there.
I think that in a paradoxical way, the attack on Israel for many in Congress can act as shock therapy and realize that the Israelis need help, the Ukrainians need help, the Taiwanese need help, and it’s all part of a issue.

– The fate of Ukraine very much depends on the outcome of the elections in the USA. Let’s imagine that Trump won. He has already made several loud statements in connection with Ukraine. And he also said he wants to pull the US out of NATO. Is this even possible?

– I am very concerned about the possible re-election of Trump, especially in the context of NATO and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I think that if Trump really focuses, which is not easy for him, on NATO issues, then he can announce a request to withdraw from the Alliance.
Presidents have the right to withdraw from any agreements, and he can do so. The consequences for the US around the world will be catastrophic, but Trump can make such a decision, it is possible.
And Putin will be watching with interest to see if Trump does this, because the US withdrawal from NATO will render him ineffective not only in terms of aid to Ukraine, but also to the alliance’s member states themselves.
And I think that Putin carefully listened to Trump’s words that he could stop the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, which, of course, is ridiculous. Trump said he could arrange a meeting between Putin and Zelensky and solve everything that way. That, of course, won’t happen either.
But when he can’t find a quick solution, he’ll want to find someone to blame. Because he won’t see it as his own fault. And here, I fear, knowing how Trump admires Putin, that he will almost inevitably find the culprit in the person of Zelensky. And that will be very bad for Ukraine.

– That is, you think that Putin monitors what Trump says and, perhaps, because of this, he starts talking about negotiations more and more often?

– I think that Putin thinks that he has an advantage in Ukraine – because of the problems with the supply of weapons, because of the local successes of the Russian army at the front.
And if at some point he suddenly says: “This war has dragged on too long, let’s make a truce and hold peace talks in Geneva,” then he will actually get a new Russian-Ukrainian border along the line of contact of the two armies at the moment.
For Ukraine, this will be tantamount to defeat.

– In an interview with CNN, you called Biden a “disgrace” and Trump “crazy.” What outcome of the presidential election would satisfy you?

– There is no good way out. In 2020, when the election was the same, in Maryland, where I live, I put Dick Cheney’s name on the ballot. I will do the same this year. I know Cheney won’t win, it’s clear to me it’s going to be either Biden or Trump. But that’s the only way I can express my disapproval of both of them.
I don’t think either one deserves to be president of the United States.
70% of Americans in polls over the past year said they did not want a repeat election with Trump and Biden. But they got that choice.

– I cannot but ask you about Vladimir Putin, whom you know personally. You have already said that you do not expect the political situation in Russia to change soon. But what could this transit of power of which you speak be?

– The only way for Putin to be removed from power is during a crisis in Russia, when someone in the military or secret services riots.
The Russian parliament is not a parliament. There are no mechanisms for the change of power, the elections are obviously falsified.
Even in Soviet times, there was a Politburo of the Communist Party which, after the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1963, could say to Nikita Khrushchev: “Nikita, it’s time for you to resign.”
Now even such a mechanism does not exist.
There is no one who can tell Putin that it is time for him to go.
So, I’m afraid the only way to overthrow Putin is a riot, and what such a scenario might lead to, no one knows.
Obviously, the best way would be a change of power, through democratic elections and a new attempt to form a full-fledged parliament, as they tried to do in the 90s. But Russia is now in a much worse position than it was then.
I am very concerned about the Asian part of Russia and China’s behavior there. I remind you that Vladivostok and the lands around it were Chinese territories as early as the 1860s. In China, they have not forgotten this and see to the north of their border reserves of minerals, gas and oil. This will be a very dangerous time for Russia.
And the chances of it becoming part of the West again, given China’s growing influence, are diminishing.
So, whatever happens in the Kremlin, a democratic parliament, regardless of which way it emerges—elections, coup or otherwise—could become Russia’s last chance to keep it from disintegrating into separate states.
Translation: Faktor.bg