Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax on Monday that President Donald Trump is pushing hard for Ukraine to accept a peace agreement with Russia by Thursday because the United States must turn its attention to a more immediate threat: Venezuela and the powerful drug cartels operating throughout the Western Hemisphere.
Holt told "Finnerty" that Ukraine is in no position to dictate the terms of an end to the war and that the criticism of Trump's peace push ignores the realities on the ground.
"No, they never do," Holt said when asked whether the losing side in a war sets the terms.
"Those who are pushing back on anything that President Trump is trying to put together ... they're trying to stop peace dead in its tracks. If you're losing a war, you're lucky to have any concessions whatsoever," he added.
Holt argued that Russia's economic weakness gives Trump leverage to secure a deal to preserve some form of Ukrainian sovereignty.
He pointed to Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian opposition leader, as one of several voices inside Ukraine now openly acknowledging that the longer the war drags on, the worse any future settlement will be.
"We're very, very close," Holt said, adding that many Ukrainians recognize they must "get what we can, because six months from now we're going to get a far worse deal."
Holt said widespread corruption within President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's government has further destabilized Kyiv and might necessitate new leadership.
"You're a wartime president ... you can't be in this position while you're trying to get this done," he said, noting that the scandal is consuming Ukraine domestically even as Russian forces press toward the Dnieper River.
He added that U.S. taxpayers also deserve a full audit of American aid.
Holt said the urgency for Trump's Thanksgiving deadline for Ukraine to accept a peace deal becomes clear when looking south. He linked the timing of the White House's push for peace to the escalating confrontation with Venezuelan ruler Nicolás Maduro and the expansive reach of Latin American drug networks.
"We have vital interests in the United States, and Europe is not at the top of the list," Holt said. "We are pulling on the cartels … and we're at danger here in the United States because the cartels are on every main street in America after four years of open borders."
"President Trump is exactly right," he added. "We've got to shut down what's going on in Europe, because we've got to take care of our own shores."
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Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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