Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore went toe-to-toe on Newsmax over desired outcomes from Friday’s summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
While Holt made the case that anything should be on the table to end the Russia-Ukraine war, Gilmore said Trump cannot legitimize what Putin has done in Ukraine.
In a spirited exchange on “Finnerty,“ Gilmore, former U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, warned that Putin’s ultimate goal is to secure American recognition of his territorial conquests in Ukraine — a move Gilmore says would have disastrous consequences.
“My hope is that when President Trump is here tomorrow, that he will understand exactly what Putin is trying to do. What Putin is trying to do is to get the American stamp of legitimacy on his conquest, on his violence, on his atrocities,” Gilmore told host Rob Finnerty. “If he gets it, I believe we’re on a long-term path to a major war up the road.”
Gilmore argued that without such legitimacy, Russia’s hold on any occupied territory will eventually crumble, whether in “one year, five years, or 10 years.” He urged Trump to reject any territorial concessions and to levy sanctions instead.
“My counsel to him would be to walk away from any unreasonable demands that Putin is making and put those sanctions on,” Gilmore said.
Holt strongly disagreed, saying the war has devolved into a bloody stalemate with mounting casualties and an urgent need for dialogue.
“We’re north of a million dead in a war of attrition. So how many have to die before we escalate ourselves into some sort of nuclear escalation with Ukraine as the flashpoint of this?” Holt asked.
Holt said Russia has failed to achieve its original objective of fully conquering Ukraine, struggling to make limited territorial gains.
“Russia has already proven with its army over the last three years that it’s not in danger of taking over anything,” he said.
But he warned that Ukraine’s fighting forces are severely depleted, with battalions down 30% and soldiers ranging from 16 to 60 years old.
“The poor, valiant … Ukrainian soldiers, they’re buckling because they don’t have enough men to fight. They have 60-year-olds on the line. They have 16-year-olds that have never held a gun before.” Holt said. “And so we don’t want to talk this out?”
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