US President Joe Biden had failed to deter the Russian offensive in Ukraine and now has no idea what to do with the ongoing conflict, former US national security adviser John Bolton has said. Bolton also claimed that a deal between Moscow and Kiev seems to be unlikely at the moment.
The Republican politician, who is a staunch critic of Russia and one of the most hawkish figures on the American political scene, appeared on CBS on Saturday, claiming that Biden had “made mistake after mistake” in handling the Ukrainian crisis.
The US leader had the means to prevent the Russian military operation, but “didn’t exercise them,” he insisted. According to Bolton, Biden shouldn’t have announced publicly that American troops wouldn’t be sent to Ukraine to “leave the burden of ambiguity on Russia.” The right thing to do for Biden was also to slap sanctions on Moscow before the start of the offensive, not after it had already begun, he added.
As for the possibility of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine being settled at the negotiating table, the former US national security adviser said: “I don’t see any possibility of a deal between the two of them.”