KT McFarland, deputy national security adviser in the first Trump administration, told Newsmax on Friday that the attacks by Ukraine against Russia could “escalate” their ongoing war.
McFarland told “Wake Up America” that Ukraine “scored a major victory” with drone strikes on Russian airfields, which she said were “humiliating [for] the Russian military” and illustrated “how vulnerable Russia is” to attacks.
She said that Ukraine doesn’t “want to settle” because “they think they’re on a roll. The Russians and maybe [President] Vladimir Putin didn’t want to settle a couple weeks ago, because he was preparing for a summer offensive.”
McFarland continued: “[Russian President Vladimir] Putin thought he was going to have a big summer offensive,” which would give him an advantage in the war, “but now Russia’s been humiliated, so Russia can’t go to the table. So I think both of them continue to fight and escalate and the only one who’s going to stop this is President [Donald] Trump,” whom she said “is going to have a big decision to make” on how to approach the conflict.
“Is he going to just say, OK, I’m going to force you guys to the negotiating table? Russia, I’m going to impose serious secondary sanctions to cripple your economy and force you to the table. Ukraine, I’m going to force you to the table because I’m going to maybe delay weapons shipment or or intelligence sharing.'”
McFarland also speculated that Trump could “just throw up his arms and say, Enough already, guys, neither of you want to negotiate. Keep fighting. Call me when you’re ready to talk.”
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