Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax on Friday that the time between now and Jan. 20 is "probably the most dangerous part of" the Russia-Ukraine war.
Last week, Ukraine targeted a Russian weapons arsenal using a long-range U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System, known as ATACMS. The attack marked a major escalation on the 1,000th day of the war. Russia responded with a real-life demonstration of its Oreshnik missile, hitting the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
Holt said the world is living in a precarious time with no leadership in the White House until President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20.
"We are in probably the most dangerous part of this war. We're either on an-off ramp where President Trump can get the deal sealed or what we've seen out of this administration, which has a 100% track record of foreign policy failures," he said during an appearance on "The Chris Salcedo Show."
"And they're going to rip reverse gear out of this war. They're going to escalate."
Holt said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should "pause the ATACMS" launches and wait for Trump.
"And what we expect in return is no Oreshnik-type launches on Kyiv. And at least let's set that aside while we wait for the new administration to come in and a dialogue that might get us to a better place," he said.
Retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer joined the conversation and said President Joe Biden has contact only with Zelenskyy.
"So I don't know, but I'm pretty sure there's already back-channel communication now going between Trump and [Russian President] Vladimir Putin. So I think just opening that door, you're going to see a lot of progress very rapidly," Shaffer said.
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James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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