Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton said that US President Donald Trump's threat to impose sanctions on Russia over Ukraine was just a formality.
On March 7, President Trump wrote on the social network Truth Social that he was seriously considering bank sanctions, tariffs and other large-scale measures against Russia because the country continued to attack Ukraine.
The leader said sanctions would remain in place until a ceasefire and a final agreement on lasting peace were reached, and called on Russia and Ukraine to immediately begin negotiations.
Former White House National Security Advisor John Bolton
In an interview with CNN the same day, former National Security Advisor John Bolton said that President Trump's threat was "completely empty".
"I don't understand. Last year, the only year we have complete data, (US imports from Russia) were less than $3 billion, which is very small compared to the total US trade with the rest of the world," Mr. Bolton explained.
The former adviser continued that in 2021, the last full year before Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, the US imported about $30 billion worth of goods from Russia, meaning that US imports from Russia had dropped by 90% during the war. This means that President Trump’s tariff threat is considered meaningless.
"Tariffs are almost meaningless. Banking sanctions, if there are banking sanctions that we haven't imposed on Russia, I want to know why," Mr. Bolton continued.
The warning was issued by President Trump after the US suspended military aid and intelligence provision to Ukraine. Mr. Bolton criticized this action and assessed that President Trump was treating the relationship between the US and other countries as a personal relationship between Mr. Trump and the leaders of those countries.
"This is all part of the way Trump works. Everything is personal. Trump believes that America's relationships with other countries are determined by his personal relationships with foreign leaders. He thinks (Russian President) Vladimir Putin is his friend. He has never liked (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky, not since the famous perfect phone call in 2019. And this is what you get," Bolton said.
In 2019, shortly after Mr. Zelensky took office, Mr. Trump reportedly called the Ukrainian leader to pressure him to investigate Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden’s business in Ukraine. The incident occurred when Mr. Biden was campaigning to become the Democratic presidential candidate for the 2020 presidential election.
Mr Trump has denied wrongdoing and described the call as “perfect”, while Mr Zelensky has insisted he was not threatened. Mr Trump was impeached by the US House of Representatives for abuse of power and obstruction of justice, but was later acquitted by the Senate.
According to Mr. Bolton, Mr. Trump is trying to show a balanced attitude between Russia and Ukraine after the argument with Mr. Zelensky at the White House and the suspension of aid to Kyiv. "I think Mr. Putin understands perfectly well that that threat is completely empty," Mr. Bolton concluded.
Mr. Bolton served as national security adviser during Mr. Trump’s first term as president. However, the adviser was later fired and often made critical statements about the leader.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cuu-co-van-bolton-che-loi-de-doa-cua-ong-trump-voi-nga-185250309104845642.htm
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