Bolton to Newsmax: 'Every Indication' Putin, Xi Coordinating Strategies

There is "every indication" that Russian President Putin and China's leader Xi Jinping are coordinating their strategies "more closely than ever before," and that puts the United States in a "crisis situation," former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said on Newsmax Friday.

"They're able to operate and put us potentially in a crisis situation in very different parts of the world," said Bolton on Newsmax's "National Report." "I'd like to find a way to split Russia and China, but it's pretty difficult when they're pursuing hegemonic aspirations, Russia in the space of the former Soviet Union and China against Taiwan and many other places in the end of the Pacific."

Bolton said he believes Putin is sensing weakness in President Joe Biden, and that leaves the United States "vulnerable."

Meanwhile, Russia is laying demands for a sweeping new security deal with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including a written agreement that the alliance won't expand east to Russia, and Bolton said he thinks that the move is another way Putin and Moscow are testing Biden's administration.

"I think this is a real test for NATO. This is something that the Biden administration will be judged for. If it gives up on this point it will be a terrible signal not just to Russia but China and our other adversaries around the world."

The former ambassador also discussed reports that tens of thousands of Afghan refugees are coming into the United States without being vetted, and insisted that the process is important but shouldn't be used as an excuse to keep people out.

His comments come after a Senate Republican memo that said Afghan refugees underwent very little vetting, and that some 82,000 were allowed into the country that had not been vetted properly.

Bolton said he doesn't doubt that the Taliban, ISIS, or al-Qaida would try to get loyalists embedded with the evacuees that are seeking asylum in the United States, as he doesn't doubt they tried to infiltrate the Afghan government or military before the United States pulled troops out.

The former ambassador has also recently written that he believes Biden is losing the contest of wills with Iran over nuclear weapons.

"Look, the 2015 deal with Iran that the Obama administration struck was a bad deal when it was written," said Bolton. "It hasn't gotten any better with age."

He added that it was the "right thing" in May 2018, when then-president Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal.

"Biden's been trying for 11 months in office now to find a way back into that deal," said Bolton. "The deal can't be fixed. Iran is still determined to get delivery [of] nuclear weapons. That's been their strategic objective for some time. There is no evidence they've given it up."

Bolton said he's worried that Biden is so determined to revive the deal, which was struck while he was vice president under President Barack Obama, that he will make "very dangerous concessions" that will cause problems for the United States, Israel, and other allies in the Middle East.

The former ambassador also discussed the situation between China and the United States in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly China's efforts to cover up the origins of the disease.

"China went out of its way in the World Health Organization and generally to prevent outside experts coming in and understanding where the disease began, something that could have saved lives all over the world, and saved the economic devastation that's been caused," said Bolton.

The United States has come to an understanding on China "late," but "not so late that we can't protect ourselves."

Finally, Bolton said he thinks the United States' diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Beijing is "weak."

"We should have perhaps considered boycotting entirely, including our athletes, sometime back," said Bolton. "I think it's a little late to do that now."

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