Russia's Vladimir Putin has incentive to drag out Ukraine tensions, particularly because "classic brinkmanship" might effectively net him Ukraine "for free" through the threat of aggression and negotiations and no large-scale conflict, according to former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
"Putin is making money out of this crisis; the price of oil remains over $90 a barrel," Bolton told Sunday's "The Cats Roundtable" on WABC 770 AM-N.Y. "He's happy to keep the crisis going.
"Time is on his side. This sense of urgency that we have that raises people's pulses and blood pressure may not be good for clear thinking."
Bolton suggested President Joe Biden is making unforced errors in being "reactive" instead of proactive in deterring Russian aggressions.
"I worry the administration is so consumed by the reaction to its catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, that it's over-hyping the imminence of the potential attack," Bolton told host John Catsimatidis. "There's a 'boy who cried wolf' phenomenon that's at risk here."
While Biden is "convinced" Putin has intentions to invade Ukraine, Vice President Kamala Harris is merely threatening sanctions if he does, and Bolton said the certainty of an invasion "depends on how successful he is diplomatically in achieving his larger strategic interests."
"The Russians are playing a very agile, diplomatic game, which primarily centers on fracturing NATO," Bolton said.
Putin has said he built up forces on the border with Ukraine – reportedly an estimated 190,000 troops – because Russia wanted to secure itself against giving its former Soviet territory admission into NATO.
Putin has "incentive and the initiative," according to Bolton, who said NATO and the U.S. should "up the ante" with sanctions now, including canceling the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that Biden had reopened after former President Donald Trump had it blocked.
"We should have been doing this weeks ago," Bolton said. "We've got to increase the pressure on Russia now, not simply the threat of pressure later if he invades.
"We are in a completely reactive mode. That's never a place you want to be."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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