Bolton: Putin sees Obama as ‘weak leader’

Former Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Russian President Vladimir Putin has sized up President Obama as a “weak leader” and has taken advantage of him repeatedly.

“I’m very worried that Putin, who can read a calendar just as well as the rest of us can, sees that Obama has two more years in office, and he will redouble his efforts during that period to get what he wants from Ukraine and other former republics of the Soviet Union, and other [former Soviet satellite nations],” Bolton said in an interview to air Sunday “The Cats Roundtable” on New York’s 970 AM.

{mosads}“We’re in for a dangerous time in Europe for the next couple of years,” he told radio host John Catsimatidis. “And yet the president doesn’t seem to pay attention anymore.”

Bolton criticized Obama’s handling of a resurgent Russia as the country’s incursion into Ukraine continues.

Senior Democrats are pressing Obama to increase military aid for Ukraine, including ammunition and small arms, to help its ground forces, but the administration is not budging.

The George W. Bush appointee was highly critical of Obama’s close relationship with Turkish President Recep Erdogan and Turkey’s efforts to combat radicalism on its borders with Syria and Iraq as Islamic militants advance amid U.S-led airstrikes.

“Turkey has played a double game for a long time,” he said. “The Erdogan government has allowed the radicals to infiltrate into Syria. When [Turkey] had the opportunity to do something about it [it didn’t do anything] …Ironically, the President of Turkey, Recep Erdogan, has been hailed by the White House as Barack Obama’s closest friend among foreign leaders. It’s not doing a lot of good for us.”

During the interview, Catsimatidis waded into the 2016 presidential election by asking Bolton if he was mulling a run, noting that he’s raised $7 million in two separate political action committees. 

“I’m not at this point and I haven’t really focused on it,” Bolton said. “I’ve been spending time this year trying to help candidates for the House and the Senate who believe in a strong American foreign policy, who understand a strong American presence in the world is critical to maintain our way of life.”