Bolton: Trump Will Talk To Putin Before Taking A Firm Stance On Crimea Annexation
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton appeared in an interview with CBS News’ Margaret Brennan on Sunday and during his “Face the Nation” appearance, Bolton refused to provide a firm stance on President Trump’s views of Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
Trump in speaking to reporters said, “We’ll have to see what happens when the issue comes up in the meeting”
Brennan asked Bolton: “Is the US endorsing the idea that international borders can be drawn by force? Is this actually a topic?”
“No, that’s not the position of the United States,” Bolton responded.
“Which is why it was newsworthy when he said it,” Brennan quipped.
Bolton then defended Trump’s “we’ll see” comment, noting that the President often uses that term to show “that he’s willing to talk to foreign leaders about a range of issues and hear their perspective.”
“That’s not up for negotiation?” Brennan pressed Bolton to acknowledge.
“That’s not the position of the United States,” Bolton said.
“Right, but saying ‘we’ll see’ suggests it might be,” Brennan added.
“Well, we’ll see,” Bolton quipped.
Further, into the interview, Bolton made it a point to tell Brennan: “The President makes the policy. I don’t make the policy.”
Here’s the full interview:
.@margbrennan asks @AmbJohnBolton if, on AF1, @POTUS left the door open to recognizing Russia’s annexation of Crimea:
BOLTON: That's not the position of the United States.
BRENNAN: Right. But saying we'll see suggests might be.
BOLTON: Well we'll see. pic.twitter.com/jmFR6B3Vhz— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) July 1, 2018
The question remains, why is Donald Trump waiting to speak with Vladimir Putin before he makes a Presidential decision regarding Russia’s violent annexation of Crimea?