Blaine Holt, a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general, said there might be something to the speculative reports of Russian President Vladimir Putin being open to peace negotiations with Ukraine, and possibly ending the 10-month war between the neighboring countries.
"This actually might be legitimate. There are a lot of reasons to believe that Putin might want to end this [war] quicker," Holt told Newsmax on Monday afternoon, while appearing on "American Agenda" with host Bob Sellers.
Factoring in the various news reports, along with his own conversations with sources, Holt maintains that China's leaders have expressed to Putin that 'this war needs to wrap up.'
Holt has also heard talk of leader Xi Jinping, the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, and Putin staging a one-on-one call later this week.
And if that should happen, Holt asserts the Putin-Xi talks could lead to a pathway of peace, or at least a prolonged cease-fire, between Russia and Ukraine.
"There's lot of confidence being lost [among the Russians and Chinese] with every [military] strike the Ukrainians make," said Holt, a regular Newsmax contributor.
In the event of substantive peace talks, Holt reasoned that all scenarios could be on the negotiating table, including Russia returning control of Crimea back to Ukraine.
"It's important to seize the opportunity of having leverage at the negotiating table; and that's going to require American leadership," explained Holt.
That could mean President Joe Biden "actually engaging [other world] leaders at the highest level, with the goal of getting to the table and [finding] an off-ramp to this war," said Holt.
In the wake of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visiting the United States last week, and getting $45 billion in additional aid from Congress, Holt said that Zelenskyy "probably feels that he can go a long way" in surviving — and perhaps winning — the war against Russia.
As such, Putin likely senses a similar change in momentum with his Ukraine counterpart, said Holt.
In the meantime, Holt doesn't envision the Russian armies passively waiting for peace talks to arise; and the Ukrainian forces must be prepared for all eventualities.
On the domestic side, Holt believes the U.S. government would have more success getting the American people on-board to support Ukraine, if lawmakers were more transparent regarding the flow of cash going overseas.
"We've needed audit controls from Day 1," said Holt, while adding "it's been hard for Americans to see the [$1.7 trillion] omnibus bill — where it involves the security of another country, and not our own — and not even being able to see how the money [going to Ukraine is] spent."
Holt then conveyed how most Americans likely understand the significance of helping Ukraine wards off Russia's full-scale invasion, but "we still deserve a report on where the money's going.
"And that'll lead to greater efficiency and even better resources for Ukraine," said Holt, while adding there's "a lot of garbage [information] that comes out" of Washington, D.C.
As such, "it's nuts" that a war cannot be audited, added Holt.
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.