Former US President Donald Trumpʼs national security adviser John Bolton believes that Ukraine should continue an active dialogue with influential American Republican politicians in order to strengthen support from the United States and influence Trumpʼs policy towards Kyiv.
He spoke about this in an interview with Babel.
According to him, advisers to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should hold talks with the Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington and Ukrainian officials should talk to members of Congress, especially Republicans, "to understand how to direct Trump on the right way".
"Most Republicans are still very supportive of Ukraine. We donʼt know yet what exactly might change Trumpʼs view, but you shouldnʼt stop... There are people in the administration who can sympathize, and we need to be careful not to draw Trumpʼs attention to them now," Bolton is convinced.
He added that Marco Rubio and Michael Waltz understand that the United States needs stability in Central Europe to counter the threats of the China-Russia axis.
When asked whether these people could change the US presidentʼs view, John Bolton stressed that Trump is guided by what he believes is best for Donald Trump. And right now, he believes that is "resuming dialogue with his good friend Vladimir Putin".
"If he sees that this will lower his rating in the United States, or Putin makes a mistake or oversteps the mark, goes too far, asks Trump for more than he should — all of this could backfire on the Russian president. Donʼt stop, because when Putin makes a mistake, youʼll want to take advantage of it," the former adviser added.
This mistake could be Putin’s demand to withdraw NATO troops from some NATO member countries so that “they are less of a threat to Russia”. Such a condition could cross Trump’s own red lines.
- According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump is already “genuinely surprised and secretly annoyed” that Putin is not showing more flexibility regarding the settlement of the Russia-Ukraine war.
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