Bolton to Newsmax: No Chance of Separate Ukraine Bill

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will likely not sway congressional Republicans to fast-track a stand-alone aid bill for aid for his country's war against Russia, John Bolton, a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said on Newsmax Tuesday.

"I don't think there's any chance that the border issue is going to be separated," Bolton told Newsmax's "Wake Up America." "Let's be clear, President Joe Biden put the issues together. This is not just an aid bill for Ukraine, but for Israel, Taiwan, and the Mexican border."

With only three days left before Congress goes into recess for the rest of the year, Republicans are refusing to pass the $105 billion supplemental bill proposed by President Biden. It contains aid to Ukraine but no changes to U.S. immigration policy.

The bill includes $60 billion for Ukraine, and Bolton said Tuesday that in a "perfect world" he would like to see separate votes on the money for Ukraine and Israel.

"But everybody from Mitch McConnell to you name it on the House side is in favor of putting everything into one package," said Bolton. "President Biden has said he will negotiate, and I just wish they'd get together. Days have 24 hours in them. Let's get it done before Christmas."

But Biden, by including money for the border in his initial bill, "thought he could get away initially without having to negotiate over policy that's failed," said Bolton. "As far as I know, Republicans, if they got the right border language, would vote for the entire bill."

Meanwhile, Biden's strategy on the war in Ukraine "has been bad from the beginning" and that's why there is gridlock now on funding, said Bolton.

"If he had had a better strategic sense, I think it would have gotten a lot more support from more Republicans earlier on," he said. "But I don't think we should lose sight of the big picture because we've got an incompetent president."

Bolton added that "Russia's aggression here has to be defeated. We have to send that message to Moscow, to Beijing, to Tehran, to Pyongyang, and to a lot of other places that we will not allow this change of borders in areas that are of interest to us by force."

It is a "total non sequitur," to assume that there can't be both funding for Ukraine and policy changes for the border, he also told Newsmax.

"You can do both, and you could do both separately, but the fact is in the politics we have in Washington today, the two are tied together," Bolton said. "That's fine. I don't have any problem with that. I think we should have a better policy on the Southern border. You know, you can walk and chew gum at the same time."

Bolton also said that he believes the White House's request for $60 billion for Ukraine matches "what is necessary for the next year."

"Go back two years, I wouldn't have funded and strategized about this war the way the administration did," said Bolton. "I think they were more worried about making sure that Ukraine didn't lose than what the real objective should be, which is to empower Ukraine to defeat Russia and move them out of Ukrainian territory. That's what our stated position is, but we've been deterred by the Russians. Biden failed to deter the Russian invasion. But the Russians have deterred the White House from successfully aiding Ukraine."

While there have been calls for a cease-fire in Israel in its war against Hamas, now is not the time for peace talks between Ukraine and Russia, where the war has raged for over two years, Bolton added.

"I think if peace talks in Ukraine started now, you would have a new Russian-Ukrainian border," said Bolton. "Putin would simply hold the territory he has."

Bolton added that there is a historical timespan for the Ukraine war, as it is about Russian President Vladimir Putin's effort to recreate the Russian empire.

"If he's defeated here, it marks a significant setback to his efforts," he said. "There are no Americans dying in this war and much of what is being spent is actually being spent here in the United States."

And while it's to America's advantage to wait until there is a better commander in chief in office, "do you want to cut your nose off despite your face and lose Ukraine or a big part of it because Joe Biden is incompetent? I think we've gotta grit our teeth and continue to support Ukraine and press our NATO allies to do their share, which many of them are still not doing."

About NEWSMAX TV:

NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!

Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE -- See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com