Former national security adviser to US President Donald Trump, John Bolton, believes that the Republican's statements about potential losses for Ukraine even before the start of negotiations with Russia mean that Trump has "effectively surrendered to Putin."
Points of attention
- John Bolton criticizes Trump for effectively surrendering to Putin by making treasonous statements about potential losses for Ukraine before negotiations with Russia.
- Bolton warns that Trump's actions could damage US security interests beyond Central Europe, impacting relations with adversaries in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region.
- The US should unequivocally support Ukraine and all NATO allies to prevent the Kremlin's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine from prevailing.
Trump's former adviser Bolton praised the US president's statements
Bolton said that allowing Russia to "encroach on Ukraine's sovereignty, recruit enemies like North Korea to help in its fight, and then sell out Ukrainians by agreeing to lose their territory and security guarantees or NATO membership" is unacceptable.
By making these and other concessions before the negotiations even began, Trump effectively surrendered to Putin on the issue of Ukraine.
The former adviser to the American president noted that he had warned many times that Trump would favor Russia in negotiations between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.
Russia's military performance has been pathetic, but Trump justifies Putin's decision to invade.
Bolton believes that the damage to US security interests "will extend far beyond Central Europe, as our adversaries in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific region clearly see."
U.S. leaders must unequivocally support Ukraine and all NATO allies who support Kyiv. It is not in our national interest to allow the Kremlin's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine to prevail. The Trump administration should be ashamed.
It is unconscionable to allow Russia to assault Ukraine’s sovereignty, recruit enemies like North Korea to aid in their fight, and then sell out the Ukrainians by conceding the loss of their territory and NATO security guarantees or membership. By making these and others…
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) February 13, 2025
On February 12, the new US Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, stated that returning Ukraine's borders to those that existed before 2014 was not a realistic goal, and stated that the US did not consider Ukraine's membership in NATO a realistic outcome of a peaceful resolution to the war.
Trump spoke with Putin that same day. Following the talks, the American president said that he and the illegitimate Russian president "agreed that they want to stop the millions of deaths that are happening in the war with Russia/Ukraine."
That same evening, Zelensky said he discussed further contacts with Trump during the call. According to him, the "long conversation" with Trump was about the possibility of achieving peace, the willingness to work together at the team level.
