Former national security adviser John Bolton on Wednesday said Russian President Vladimir Putin is entering peace talks with the initiative of convincing President Trump he’s ready for peace — regardless of whether he truly is.
“I think Putin has the initiative here, and I think his — what he’s going to try to do is show to Trump that he has a peace plan and that it’s sincere, even though I don’t think it will be,” Bolton said Wednesday on CNN’s “AC360.”
“But he’s going to try to convince Trump and try to bring him back on his side,” he added.
The Trump-Putin meeting is scheduled for Friday in Anchorage and will take place without Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Bolton, an adviser to Trump in his first term who has since fallen out hard with the president, has repeatedly suggested Trump is under the guise of the Kremlin and has shied away from punishing Russian leaders for the conflict in Eastern Europe. Trump has frequently criticized Bolton publicly.
In late May, the president publicly slammed Putin for strikes on Kyiv, declaring the leader had gone “absolutely crazy” but has since refused to impose secondary sanctions on Russia.
Bolton says Putin will use this meeting to reel in Trump, but he argued it won’t be easy for the Russian leader.
“I think it’s going to be a difficult task with Putin because I think, intentionally or unintentionally, he did irritate Trump, to put it mildly, but he’s going to try to work his KGB training to bring him back,” Bolton told host Anderson Cooper.
“And I think that could involve negotiation. You know, there’s a diplomatic term to say, ‘Well, we’re not really negotiating, we’re having an exchange of views.’ And so they’ll exchange views on things like territory and issues like that, and it could get pretty specific,” he added.
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