Bolton, a former defense adviser, has said that if Trump had been president for a second time, he would have expelled the United States from NATO.

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Former US National Security Adviser John Bolten told US media this week that Russian President Vladimir Putin was waiting for the United States to withdraw from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Tensions between Russia and NATO have escalated Ukraine The present has risen sharply.

According to Bolton, Trump had previously written in his memoir that if he had won a second term as president of the United States, he would have broken with NATO. Under Trump, Bolton served as national security adviser from April 2018 to September 2019. He Left Due to strong disagreements with Trump over US foreign policy.

Bolton addressed Trump’s position on NATO this week Online seminar from the Washington Post About Russian invasion of UkraineHe was mainly critical of the current foreign policy of President Joe Biden in the region.

Michael Duffy, a reporter for The Washington Post, asked Bolton how serious Trump was about leaving NATO: “I think he considered it, but in the end he did not expel the United States,” Bolton said. In his memoir, Bolton wrote about Trump Consideration is being given to leaving NATO in 2018“I think he may have pulled the United States out of NATO during his second term. I think Putin was waiting for that.”

Trump saw NATO as a burden when he was president, and considered European countries not playing a fair role in maintaining security. When asked if he was satisfied with the Trump administration’s handling of Ukraine, Bolton harshly criticized his former boss.

“I think it was pretty bad,” Bolton said. “It was difficult to discuss geo-strategic issues with him. The president was particularly concerned … the efforts of Rudy Giuliani. [de Oekraïnse president Volodimir] Zhelensky to find Hillary Clinton’s computer server. “

Ukraine’s position in the “cycle of US presidential politics” has made it difficult for Zhelensky to build good relations with the United States in recent years, Bolton says, as a “key support” for Ukraine.

During a Washington Post conference, Bolton pointed out that former Secretary of Defense Mike Pompeo and former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper were concerned about Trump’s behavior at the time. “We all felt the need to improve Ukraine’s security, and we were shocked at how Trump was doing.”

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