Bolton: Trump shows weakness, not strength in his policy on peace in Ukraine

According to Ukrinform, he said this in an interview with CNN, an excerpt of which was posted on Friday on the social network X.

“Trump's approach to the Russo-Ukraine war is the exact opposite of Reagan's "peace through strength" philosophy. The President has made one concession after another to the Kremlin. This is not strength, this is weakness,” the former adviser said. Reagan is “turning over in his grave” watching this policy of the current administration, he added.

Bolton said that, in Trump’s view, relations between states were determined by the personal relationships between their leaders. He added that Trump liked Vladimir Putin and considered him his friend, whereas he did not like Volodymyr Zelensky, and that was how he reacted.

According to him, Trump is putting considerable pressure on Ukraine by “cutting off aid and intelligence sharing, which will give Russia more and more of an advantage on the battlefield over time.

This has a serious impact on both defensive and any offensive operations that Ukraine wants to conduct, Bolton added.

The former adviser said that the biggest damage was the loss of trust between Ukraine and the United States, as well as between the United States and those who, at least for the time being, remained their allies in NATO.

In his opinion, President Zelensky had to grit his teeth and do everything necessary to obtain that assistance again.

Currently, Russian President “Vladimir Putin and the Russians have no incentive to come to the negotiating table quickly. Trump is strengthening their position day by day,” Bolton added.

As Ukrinform reported, after Trump's Tuesday address to Congress, a representative of the Democratic opposition, Senator Elissa Slotkin, said that Reagan was “turning over in his grave” at the “performance that took place in the Oval Office last week,” referring to the failed negotiations between Trump and Zelensky.