Ukraine faces "danger" if the United States does not quickly pass much-needed military aid, former U.S. national-security adviser John Bolton told Current Time, as Russia's advantages in troops and weaponry help the Kremlin edge deeper into its neighbor more than two years into the war.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, Bolton noted that Russia is currently firing five or six artillery shells for each one fired by Ukraine, a rate he said is "not sustainable over a long period of time."
"I think the best we can hope for until the [November U.S. presidential election] is a stalemate," Bolton added, highlighting the growing isolationism inside the U.S. Republican Party "due to the effect of Donald Trump," the party's presumptive nominee for the upcoming vote.
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'Putin Is Waiting For Trump': John Bolton Voices Fears Over Ukraine, NATO
That isolationism, he said, was paralyzing efforts to counter threats from Iran, Russia, and China. The recent Iranian air strikes against Israel, though, might serve as "shock therapy" to many Republicans in Congress, he added.
"Ukraine needs aid; Taiwan needs aid," he said. "It is all part of the same endeavor. I'm hoping this week there might be real movement on all these fronts, but particularly on Ukraine aid."
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, an ally of Trump, appeared on April 15 to be making a push toward adopting measures this week on $95 billion in aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan through an elaborate plan that would break the package -- of which $61 billion is earmarked for Kyiv -- into separate votes.
Bolton, who spoke with Current Time from Washington, served as Trump's third national-security adviser in 2018-19 before being asked to resign after months of division over policy. He was also the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush and an outspoken advocate of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
He is currently a Republican foreign-policy consultant and conservative political commentator.
If Trump, as expected, is the Republican candidate in November and if he wins the election, Bolton warned he thinks Trump "will try to withdraw from NATO."
"It would be a catastrophic mistake for the United States all around the world if he did," he said.
"The withdrawal of the United States would render NATO essentially ineffective, not just for Ukraine, but for the entire alliance."
Russia under President Vladimir Putin "remains a threat, particularly as its axis with China grows, and I think it will grow," Bolton said.
"It's a threat until somehow the Putin regime is removed from power and Russia and democracy get another chance," he told Current Time. "I don't know when that's going to occur. I'm not optimistic."
Bolton argued that no mechanisms for the peaceful transfer of power exist in Russia, where Putin has been in power for a quarter-century and elections are "clearly rigged."
"It's going to be a very dangerous period for Russia," Bolton said. "And the chances of becoming part of the West again are far more limited now...than they were before."