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Post by Admin on Aug 31, 2019 21:05:31 GMT
White House national security adviser John Bolton’s unexpected meeting with “the last dictator in Europe” could undermine a vital Russian alliance, with potentially high stakes for Russian President Vladimir Putin himself. “It is extraordinary that Ambassador Bolton went to Belarus,” Heather Conley, director of the Europe Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Washington Examiner. “It’s clearly a strong message to the Kremlin, that — as the Kremlin becomes more deeply involved in our neighborhood, whether that's Cuba or Venezuela — the U.S. will play a more assertive role in its neighboring countries.” There’s no sharper way to make that point, in terms of symbolic meetings, than by making the first visit by a senior U.S. official to Minsk since 2001. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has kept close to Russia since 1994, using the partnership to maintain his own authoritarian control in the former Soviet satellite state. “It’s been the consistent policy of the United States since [the collapse of the Soviet Union] that we support the sovereignty and independence of the countries,” Bolton told reporters. “In the United States, we know where sovereignty lies. It lies in ‘We the people,' the first three words of our Constitution. And so, what the people of Belarus want really should determine what their relationship with Russia is.” The main agreement on resolving the important aspects related to Russian and Belarusian integration within the framework of the Union State has been reached. Such comment was made by the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko at the Belarus-Russia Forum of Regions.  According to the president, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and himself «did not rest, but worked hard on these issues.» There are a number of specific issues affecting the interests of economic entities and citizens of our countries. It is necessary to solve them shortly, noted Alexander Lukashenko. Belarusian president did not disclose any details about the consensus reached, promising to tell more «a little later.» |
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Post by Admin on Aug 31, 2019 23:52:58 GMT
National security adviser John Bolton can't seem to see eye to eye with anyone in the Trump administration, including President Trump, The Washington Post reports.
The peace negotiations in Afghanistan have reportedly pushed the once-influential Bolton to the sidelines. When the president's top aides were preparing for a meeting at Trump's golf resort in New Jersey last month to discuss the peace deal that would be presented to Afghan and Taliban officials in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Doha, Qatar, Bolton was reportedly not originally invited out of concern that he would oppose the agenda and leak info to the press after the meeting. "His team has a reputation for losing and leaking," one senior administration official with direct knowledge of the discussions said. Bolton denies that portrayal.
Bolton eventually snared a spot at the table, but during the meeting he and Trump exchanged opposing views over policy options on Afghanistan. Bolton reportedly opposes the diplomatic efforts focused on U.S. troop withdrawal in exchange for Taliban concessions espoused by the U.S. envoy leading the negotiations, Zalmay Khalilzad.
Bolton also reportedly differs with many members of the administration when it comes to situations involving Iran and North Korea. In each situation, Bolton appears to oppose the more conciliatory tone being used by the White House. Tom Wright, an international security expert at the Brookings Institution, said that "for quite a while" Trump and Bolton were "compatible," but that no longer seems to be the case. "I can't think of another example where a national security adviser was sidelined like this," Wright said.
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Post by Admin on Sept 12, 2019 18:01:44 GMT
To work at the pleasure of President Trump is to never know when your last day will come and whether the exit will be on your own terms. National Security Adviser John Bolton's resignation this week (or was it a firing?) is just the latest example.  When former Undersecretary of State Steve Goldstein woke up on the morning of March 13, 2018, he didn't know he was about to be fired. He went to the gym and rowed 13,000 meters on the indoor rower, the longest he had ever done. Then, things went south. "I think when you first get fired, and especially in my case where I saw it unfold on CNN and then got a call from the White House, it is rather shocking," Goldstein said. Goldstein's boss, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, had been forced out that morning after months of rumors about a breakdown of his relationship with Trump. The announcement came via tweet, as they often do. But Tillerson didn't go quietly. Goldstein put out a statement on his behalf contradicting the official account of the firing and saying, "The Secretary did not speak to the President this morning and is unaware of the reason." |
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Post by Admin on Sept 30, 2019 18:19:12 GMT
Ousted national security adviser John Bolton put on display the deep schisms between himself and President Donald Trump on North Korea, publicly breaking with his former boss on Monday about how best to get Kim Jong Un’s regime to wind down its nuclear weapons program.
At one of his first public appearances since his abrupt and rocky departure from the White House, Bolton did not name the president but delivered an unmistakable airing of grievances. Specifically, he threw cold water on the president’s assertion that North Korea is ready to make a deal and gave his “unvarnished” view that Kim would not voluntarily give up his nuclear weapons under current conditions.
Bolton told attendees at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event that Kim "has not made a strategic decision to give up its nuclear weapons.” In fact, he argued, “the strategic decision Kim Jong Un is operating through is that he will do whatever he can to keep a deliverable nuclear weapons capability and to develop and enhance it further.”
Bolton, who was ousted earlier this month after a year and a half as Trump’s top security aide in part because of his hawkishness, began his remarks by joking that North Korea’s leadership was likely “delighted” by the fact he was there in a private capacity.
“Perhaps they’ll be a little less delighted now that I can speak in unvarnished terms about the grave and growing threat that the North Korean nuclear weapons program poses to international peace and security," he added.
Bolton alluded to several of the policy disagreements he had with his former boss, most notably that Kim was not ready to give up his nuclear weapons program, as Trump has frequently insisted after a handful of meetings with the reclusive leader.
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Post by Admin on Jun 22, 2020 6:57:31 GMT
John Bolton’s memoir officially comes out Tuesday after surviving a security review and a legal challenge from the Justice Department. But over the weekend, it was available in ways even his publisher is hoping to prevent. A PDF of “The Room Where It Happened” has turned up on the internet, offering a free, pirated edition of the former national security adviser’s scathing takedown of President Donald Trump, who has alleged that the book contains classified material that never should have been released.  “We are working assiduously to take down these clearly illegal instances of copyright infringement,” Simon & Schuster spokesperson Adam Rothberg said Sunday. Piracy has long been a top concern among publishers, especially in the digital age, although the actual impact on sales is undetermined. “The Room Where It Happened” has been No. 1 for days on the Amazon.com bestseller list. The Associated Press was among several news outlets that obtained early copies of the book and reported on its contents. On Saturday, a federal judge ruled that Simon & Schuster could publish the book despite the Trump administration’s contention that it compromised national security. “The Room Where It Happened” was originally scheduled for March, but was delayed twice as the White House reviewed the manuscript. Bolton’s legal team has said that he spent months addressing White House concerns about classified information and that Bolton had been assured in late April by the official he was working with that the manuscript no longer contained any such material. |
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