Former national security adviser John Bolton has pushed back against the Biden administration’s comments on the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, saying that blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin “emboldens Russia.” He said that only.
Russia’s Federal Prison Service announced on Friday that Navalny, who was being held in the country’s maximum security prison on extremism charges, had died. In remarks from the White House, President Biden blamed President Putin for Navalny’s death. Biden said what happened to him was “further evidence of President Putin’s brutality.”
Bolton argued in his speech that Navalny’s death was a tragic event that showed Putin’s strength, not his weakness. Friday interview on NewsNation’s “On Balance with Leland Vittert”.
News of Navalny’s death comes as the war between Russia and Ukraine approaches the second anniversary. Bolton insisted that sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and Europe “have not shut down the Russian economy” as intended. He added that although Russians suffer casualties in the war, he is not concerned about that because Russia “does not have the same calculations as we do about the value of human life.”
“But this is exactly how Russia fights,” Bolton said. “So if Biden’s rhetoric continues at this level, it will encourage Russia. It’s part of the evidence that they can commit this kind of murder and get away with it.”
Bolton went on to say that he believes Biden is a “weak president” because his administration has repeatedly stated that it “fears a broader war,” both with Russia and the escalating conflict in the Middle East. he claimed.
As Biden also weighs his own decisions and his re-election efforts, Bolton said that both Biden and Trump, the likely nominees of each party, will be different based on their national security and foreign policy decisions. This is unacceptable to me as president.”
NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which also owns The Hill.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
