‘Not as bad as Trump inviting Taliban’: John Bolton on Alaska summit, ‘rogue leader Putin being welcomed into US’

John Bolton said Trump meeting Putin in Alaska next week is not as bad as Trump inviting Taliban, which was however canceled.

Former ambassador and President Donald Trump’s former NSA John Bolton said Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin’s proposed summit in Alaska on August 15 is a step toward success for Moscow, not for peace talks. “The only better place for Putin than Alaska would be if the summit were being held in Moscow,” Bolton said during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source” with host Kaitlan Collins. “So, the initial setup, I think, is a great victory for Putin.”“He’s a rogue leader of a pariah state, and he’s going to be welcomed into the United States,” he added, calling Alaska ‘former Russian America’. “This is not quite as bad as Trump inviting the Taliban to Camp David to talk about the peace negotiations in Afghanistan, but it certainly reminds one of that.” Trump later canceled the talks with the Taliban in September 2019.Bolton said the situation is now sliding very quickly in Russia’s direction. “We’re not quite back at February the 28th, in the Oval Office, when Trump told [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy, ‘You don’t have any cards.’ But what’s happening is that Russia and the United States are discussing what terms they’re going to present to Zelenskyy, and it may well be that Zelenskyy has no choice here,” he added. “Surrendering is always one way to get a peace deal.”Even without the meeting, Putin got his old magic back with Trump, Bolton said.“All that disappointment, all that outrage … now you’re talking about a deal between Trump and Putin? Think of the press that will get. I have to say, from the strategic perspective, from the US interest perspective, this was not a good day,” Bolton said. When Kaitlan Collins pointed out that the meeting could not have taken place in Europe as there’s an International Criminal Cpurt warrant for his arrest, Bolton said Vienna or Geneva could have hosted the meeting. “They’re basically considered U.N. cities, and the ICC warrant could have been waived, and I don’t think anybody would have objected, frankly,” he said.“Russia keeps all the territory it currently holds, a demilitarized zone, maybe with a peacekeeping force on the Ukrainian side is set up, and Ukraine pledges not to join NATO,” said Bolton. “If Ukraine agrees to a ceasefire here, it’s agreeing to its new border with Russia, effectively. I think this is a very dangerous point for Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian government.”