The war in Ukraine is headed to a "much more dangerous place" after a year of hostilities because there still is "no diplomatic off-ramp" nor is anyone pursuing one, retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt, a former U.S. deputy military adviser for NATO, told Newsmax on Thursday.
"We see Ukraine struggling to get the logistics it needs to continue the offensive in the East and the Russian war machine is increasing in size," Holt, a Newsmax contributor, told "Wake Up America." "We see finger-pointing all over the place for Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2, and we see a determined China that is all but slapping us in the face publicly every chance they get."
Meanwhile, Wang Yi, the Chinese Communist Party's most senior foreign policy official, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday amid concerns from the United States that China could start providing Russia with lethal aid for its fight against Ukraine, but Holt said if that happens, there are ways the United States could respond.
"It's not too late to hit the rewind button and go back to the breach of sovereignty on the southern border, the attack on Americans via fentanyl, and protecting our air space and our space once and for all to show the Chinese that we're going to reevaluate our relationship with them," Holt said. "Economically, China needs America more than the other way around and a military alliance with Russia is not something that we can accept."
Holt also discussed the anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine, which happened one year ago Friday, and said that heading into the second year of the war, the Ukrainians are fighting "valiantly" but the United States and the West have weapons production problems as a major concern.
"Are we on a sustainable track for Ukraine to score an outright victory and push the Russians out of their country? I don't know," he admitted. "Our government and the West are not being transparent enough … which gives us concerns here at home for our own security."
Holt also discussed National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby's denials that the United States was involved in explosions that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines.
Kirby last weekend told "Fox News Sunday" that an article by journalist Seymour Hersh alleging U.S. involvement in the pipelines' sabotage is "completely false … the United States and no proxies of the United States had anything to do with that, nothing," reports Politico.
Holt said it would be "epic for that man's career" if Hersh had written a false story "because it's not his style," but added he's still glad Kirby denied the allegations.
"What we should do is get with the U.N., make sure the U.S. is fairly represented in an investigation, and get to the bottom of it so that no country can declare war or use this as a predicate to war," Holt said. "We should be as interested in the investigation as anyone else because yes, [Russia] could use this as a trigger to develop and increase the war not only in Europe but globally."
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