John Bolton to Newsmax: Putin Disregarded Biden's Threats After Afghanistan Failure

Russian President Vladimir Putin didn't give any credibility to President Joe Biden's threats of sanctions because of "America's catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan," even if he's now calling the sanctions an "act of war," former ambassador and National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Newsmax Saturday.

Further, Bolton told Newsmax's "America Right Now" that Biden's failure to enact sanctions before the current invasion meant a "huge failure."

"[There was a] failure to create deterrence, and what we're seeing now, sad to say, is what happens when deterrents fail," Bolton said. "A lot of people were arguing before the invasion that Putin needed to feel the cost in real-time to affect his analysis. That wasn't done."

Putin also gave little credibility to Biden's threatened sanctions because he didn't see any substantial penalties for annexing Crimea and going into the Donbass regions in 2014, "just as he did not see substantial penalties in 2008 after he invaded Georgia," said Bolton.

But the "icing on the cake" for Putin regarding his decision-making on Ukraine was the withdrawal from Afghanistan, he added.

Bolton also said he finds it "very interesting" that Putin said he compares sanctions to an act of war. The Russian leader also said any attempt to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine would equal joining in armed combat.

Meanwhile, Biden won't push for NATO membership for Ukraine, and the Europeans wouldn't accept it, said Bolton.

"[Former President] George W. Bush in April 2008 proposed putting both Ukraine and Georgia on a fast track for NATO membership. He was right," said Bolton.

However, the governments of France and Germany objected to Bush's push, and "we're paying part of the cost here now," but there is now increased support from Sweden and Finland, so "we ought to take advantage of that," Bolton said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during a call with U.S. senators Saturday, insisted on a no-fly zone to help protect innocent civilians, but the Biden administration and NATO has rejected that "because we're all afraid of provoking Putin," Bolton told Newsmax.

"Our deterrents failed, but Putin is deterring NATO," said Bolton. "This will not turn out well for Ukraine."

At any rate, the prognosis is not good for Ukraine, said Bolton.

"The preponderance of Russian military force in Ukraine is going to grind the country down," he said. "I think what the ultimate Russian objective is to carve out the southern part of Ukraine and the eastern part of Ukraine, landlock the rest of the country, annex that part to Russia, and let the rest of it fend for itself."

Bolton added that the "balance of forces in the world is shifting," and there must be a national conversation about that, especially with China being in the picture.

"We are not ready now," said Bolton. "We've only recently begun to respond effectively to the challenge posed by China but as we're seeing tragically in Europe today, China may be the biggest threat, but it's certainly not the only threat."

India has been cautious in criticizing Russia, its largest arms supplier, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia are showing their displeasure, said Bolton. The Biden Administration has removed terrorist designation from the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are now targeting civilian airports, said Bolton.

"India has had a long relationship with Russia," said Bolton. "In the Cold War, the alignment was Pakistan, China, India, Russia. I think India has also been waking up to the China threat, but it's still finding it very difficult to pull itself away from Russia. I hope what they see and Ukraine will move them in that direction. That's certainly what the objective of US diplomacy should be."

The former ambassador also said Saturday he agrees with former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that Taiwan must be recognized as an independent country.

"I recommended it 20 years ago," Bolton said. There's no point now in any strategic ambiguity about Taiwan. We should defend it. We should recognize that if China doesn't like it, that's their problem."

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