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Former National Security adviser John Bolton speaks on stage during a public discussion at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina on February 17, 2020. - Bolton was invited to the school to discuss national security weeks after he was thought of as a key witness in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump
Robert Peston, an ITV Host, spoke to a former US security chief about his views on how then tense conflict is going about and how Russian President Vladimir Putin is handling it.
He spoke to John Bolton, assistant to then-president Donald Trump as part of the National Security Affairs (NSA), regarding the border conflict.
Last Wednesday night, the ex-Trump official said things are going bad, and the US and NATO are in the wrong spot.
Putin Shows Control
Bolton said that President Vladimir Putin is doing what he does best, making the West bereft of strong US leadership is fraying NATO are the edges. He is controlling the tempo of the Ukraine-Russia spat at the border with 1,000,000 troops causing chaos, reported Express UK.
Despite the fear-mongering done by President Joe Biden by saying Russia will attack, Putin coolly says there are no such intentions while the White House has no effective response.
He verbalized what the Kremlin is getting at that the Russian president sees how the US and NATO are not making the right moves. Otherwise, he's one step ahead of the rag-tag response of the alliance.
The ex-adviser told Peston that the Kremlin leader has plans getting mulled over in a range of options that would be optional to consider, cited Daily Star Post.
He added that Putin wants to sow divisiveness in a scrambling NATO, causing distrust among them which has been very successful.
Another is to shame Joe Biden as the one who destroys Europe's trust by crushing Kyiv in many ways or planning a big show where the leading players will fail. According to Peston, the former US security chief is what the Kremlin wants.
The West is focused on Ukraine, and other places like Georgia, Belarus, and others are options. For now, Kyiv has lots of choices on how to squeeze the West.
On Wednesday, the White House said that personal sanctions would be applied if the Russians invaded. So, far Putin has ignored Washington or its tirades, noted Reuters.
White House issued warnings that Russia will regret rolling over the border on its southwest flank. Many experts have said that Russia has no such plans to attack Kyiv.
Besides the US, Brussels has parroted what Biden said to no effect as their ranks are divided in its response.
Shortsighted White House and EU
Bolton said as denials of an all-out invasion of Ukraine are not the only option to get what he wants.
Other options would be replacing the Zelinsky government or taking more and annexing another part of Ukraine's territory and claiming it. Saying Putin has outplayed everyone and is poised with the initiative to make the West shudder more.
He added that the allies' response is failing, and they are getting deterred, not Russia. Too many problems in NATO, the EU, and the weak US president have given the Kremlin keys to a victory.
Other experts say Putin's hybrid war from the Belarus and Ukraine border, with the gas crisis and some EU members not agreeing with the US response.
In the interview by Peston of the former US security chief, the West is not ready for such a conflict, and the Kremlin is ahead.
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