Moscow scared NATO into going all-out for Ukraine – John Bolton – RT World News
Attacks on any target, including Nord Stream, should not jeopardize foreign aid, arch-US hawk says
Russia bullied NATO countries, preventing them from giving Ukraine the weapons it needed and allowing it to attack any targets it wanted, including key European infrastructure, the American archhawk John Bolton. That must change, he added, urging President Joe Biden to change his policy.
“(Russian President) Vladimir Putin masterfully deterred NATO from reacting vigorously enough to end the conflict quickly and successfully. The time to solve this problem is getting shorter and shorter,” Bolton wrote in an opinion piece published Wednesday by The Wall Street Journal.
President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser slammed Biden for not taking aim “ambiguous goals” and demanded his “the fear of Russian escalation” led to a military stalemate in Ukraine. The current president “barely tried” to prevent the Russian military operation, Bolton argued, before criticizing the reported limitations imposed by Washington in terms of the targets Kiev can attack with the weapons it obtains from the West.
“NATO is pressuring Ukraine not to strike inside Russia and spare key assets like Nord Stream, while the Kremlin can strike anywhere in Ukraine,” he wrote.
Nord Stream includes two undersea gas pipelines, which were built to deliver Russian natural gas directly to Germany. They exploded in September.
Bolton mentioned allegations in the Western press that US intelligence suspected that a “pro-Ukrainian group” unrelated to any government had carried out the sophisticated operation. Even if Kyiv ordered the attack, he said, it shouldn’t impact the level of support he enjoys.
According to Bolton, debates within NATO over whether to deliver longer-range ATACMS missiles or F-16 fighter jets to kyiv “reflect a disjointed strategy” and damage Ukraine’s war effort. He said it was clear to him that “fears of a Russian escalation are unwarranted.”
Bolton is a longtime advocate of using US hard power against other nations, including nuclear powers Russia and China. US political observers suggest he could seek the Republican presidential nomination in the 2024 election.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson included him on a list of GOP candidates to whom he sent a questionnaire about the conflict in Ukraine to register them. One question was whether the United States should support regime change in Russia. Bolton did not respond, Carlson said on his Monday show.
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