Bolton Torches Trump Peace Plan as ‘A Total Sellout to Moscow’

Bolton Torches Trump Peace Plan as ‘A Total Sellout to Moscow’

Former national security adviser John Bolton has unleashed one of the fiercest Republican critiques yet of President Trump’s 28-point Ukraine peace plan, declaring the proposal “written from the Russian point of view” and warning it would hand Vladimir Putin a victory he failed to win outright on the battlefield. Speaking on NewsNation, Bolton said Moscow “couldn’t have written a better treaty themselves,” arguing the deal represents a wholesale capitulation that would “sell out Ukraine.”

The plan — quietly negotiated between Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and Kremlin-linked financier Kirill Dmitriev — would see the U.S. recognise de facto Russian control over Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk, with Ukraine relinquishing its remaining footholds in those territories. In return, Russia would make no significant concessions beyond redirecting $100 billion in frozen assets toward Ukrainian reconstruction. Bolton blasted the structure as a “Neville Chamberlain moment,” comparing it to the 1938 Munich capitulation that emboldened authoritarian expansionism.

Trump has insisted Ukraine must reach a deal by Thanksgiving, telling reporters that President Zelensky will “have to like” whatever final framework emerges or “keep fighting.” Bolton said such pressure signals to both Russia and China that “unprovoked aggression can succeed.”

The plan has drawn opposition not only from Bolton but from senior Republican defence figures including Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Roger Wicker, who argue it rewards Putin almost four years after his full-scale invasion. Meanwhile, U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll travelled to Kyiv this week to brief Zelensky ahead of a new round of talks in Switzerland involving U.S. and European officials.

Bolton — a longstanding Trump critic who was recently indicted on charges related to classified information — urged negotiators to scrap the proposal entirely rather than attempt minor edits, warning the current draft would have catastrophic geopolitical consequences.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Bolton says Trump’s peace plan “couldn’t be better for Russia” and would sell out Ukraine.

• Proposal recognises Russian control of Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk with minimal concessions from Moscow.

• Trump pressuring Kyiv to accept a deal by Thanksgiving, prompting fierce pushback from Republican defence hawks.

SOURCE: The Hill