Former CIA director says Donald Trump's plan for war in Ukraine is ‘naive and unsophisticated'
Donald Trump's plan for peace in Ukraine has been branded 'naive' and 'unsophisticated' by former director of the CIA John Brennan.
In the first five months of his second term, the U.S. president has aggressively pushed for peace but refused to offer unconditional support to Kyiv in its defence against Russian aggression.
Mr Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his presidency while on the campaign trail, but diplomatic efforts have stalled and Russia has recently launched some of its largest attacks of the war so far.
The US President recently suggested it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' in a sign of his waning interest in ending the three-year conflict.
Speaking on Sky News, Mr Brennan said the U.S. president's approach to forcing through a quick peace deal in Ukraine was 'naive' and 'unsophisticated'.
"I think that Donald Trump doesn't know what he will do,' said Brennan when asked what the President will do next to secure peace in Ukraine.
Delegations from Russia and Ukraine have met for talks multiple times within the past month. But beyond agreements to exchange of prisoners of war, no major breakthrough has been made towards peace.
Mr Brennan and Mr Trump have a tense history, and the former has previously been critical of the U.S. president's foreign policy. During his first term in office, Mr Trump described him as the 'worst' CIA chief in history - and in January he revoked Mr Brennan's security clearance.
The former intelligence official was involved in Ukraine during his time in Langley and first visited the country in 2014 - the same year Russian forces invaded and annexed the Crimean peninsula.
Asked about the strength of the Ukrainian military, Mr Brennan told Sky News: "Pound for pound, [it] punches above the weight of virtually every other military on the globe, I would say including the United States, given the tremendous experience that they've gained on the battlefield".
He also suggested that Ukraine's allies were likely aware - at least in part - of the drone attack on Russian airfields deep inside its territory.
"I don't doubt for a moment that they were given some additional assistance from Western intelligence and military authorities and capabilities,' Brennan said.
"The Ukrainians have done a lot on their own, but I think a lot of this is initially enabled by some ideas that come from their Western allies."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
28 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The 100-year saga of one man's attempt to pay off the national debt
Gaspard Farrer may be just a footnote in history, but he will be remembered fondly by Rachel Reeves. A £585m fortune held by the wealthy banker, who died aged 85 almost 100 years ago, has finally been donated to the public purse after a seven-year legal battle. Mr Farrer, a former partner at the now-defunct Barings Bank, is thought to have left £500,000 in 1927 as a gift to the nation in response to the UK's huge national debt after the First World War. But rules stipulated that the so-called National Fund, established in 1927, could only be made available when it was enough to pay off the national debt in full. It means that for years, the fortune has been locked away from successive governments. However, a 2022 High Court ruling ordered the funds to be released – a decision upheld after the fund's trustees lodged an appeal. They were finally paid to the Debt Management Office (DMO) in the financial year ending in April, according to a Freedom of Information request seen by The Telegraph. The DMO offers a little-known scheme that allows taxpayers to voluntarily contribute to paying off the national debt. Last year, donations reached a record £585,112,933 – almost entirely due to the payment of the 1927 National Fund. It was one of 16 donations – three of which were left in wills and 13 were one-off payments. In the nine years prior, just £175,000 per year on average has been donated to the scheme. The legal wrangling for Mr Farrer's money began under Theresa May's government which successfully used a niche legal argument to prise open the savings pot. The bid to tap into the pot used cy-près jurisdiction – meaning 'as near as possible' – which is applied primarily to charitable trusts whose original purpose became impossible to fulfil. The funds were being looked after by Zedra Fiduciary Services who acted as the defendant in the case. The Telegraph contacted representatives for Zedra for comment. The cash is now on the Exchequer's balance sheet, but will make just a 0.02pc dent in Britain's £2.7 trillion national debt, which has grown to the same size as the entire economy. The funds were originally set aside as a £500,000 investment in assets, including gilts, by a donor who remained anonymous for decades. After the government of the day lodged its legal bid to obtain the money in 2018, Mr Farrer's identity was at last revealed. The fund quietly grew in value for years until its transfer to the Treasury was revealed in a request made to the DMO by accountancy firm RSM. The documents confirmed it had received Mr Farrer's fortune. Chris Etherington, partner at RSM, said: 'It is generosity of a level that the Chancellor could not have expected. It could provide some inspiration as to how additional revenues could be generated for the Exchequer.' 'No prospect of the fund ever paying off national debt' When Mr Farrer's donation was first made, Sir Winston Churchill said the money was 'inspired by clear-sighted patriotism and makes a practical contribution towards the ultimate – though yet distant – extinction of the public debt.' But doubts have grown over the years that the money would ever actually fulfil its original purpose. John Glenn, a former culture minister, said in response to a parliamentary question in 2018 that 'there is no realistic prospect of the fund ever amounting to a sum sufficient to pay off the whole of the national debt'. Mr Farrer's donation was held in the form of a charitable trust and was on paper one of the most well-endowed of its kind in the country. John Picton, a reader in law at the University of Manchester, said using the fund to pay off national debt would be a 'missed opportunity' to donate to more worthy causes. He added: 'It's a missed opportunity because the fund could have been kept in charity. I think it's unimaginative, personally.' Mr Picton suggested the money could go towards a charitable fund for the Armed Forces, or to support the work of the country's museums and art galleries. He said: 'In Gaspard Farrer's time, the national debt was associated with war debt and paying it off had a patriotic motivation and that's long lost.' 'But now the national debt, rather than having patriotic sentiments attached to it, is just a large number we all live with and grows throughout time. It's unthinkable now that people would want to voluntarily pay to reduce it.' Mr Farrer's only other surviving legacy is his 11,438 square foot mansion in Kent. He commissioned the legendary architect Sir Edwin Lutyens to design the property, which was built in 1911. The eight bedroom house was recently placed on the market for £3.5m.
The Independent
28 minutes ago
- The Independent
Trump demands a ‘Thank You' from Newsom after appeals court delays bid to boot military from Los Angeles
President Donald Trump said California Governor Gavin Newsom should be 'thanking' him for calling in the National Guard in Los Angeles after an appeals court ruling delayed the military being used to help stop anti-ICE protests. A U.S. District Judge ruled Trump's deployment of National Guard troops in LA was 'illegal' and violated the Tenth Amendment, and that troops had to leave. But a late-night decision by the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals dealt a blow to Newsom and delayed the implementation of the lower court order. 'Incompetent Gavin Newscum should have been THANKING me for the job we did in Los Angeles, rather than making sad excuses for the poor job he has done,' Trump raged on Truth Social Thursday evening. 'If it weren't for me getting the National Guard into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now!' For now, Trump will maintain control of the National Guard in LA after the court rulings. Before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals intervened, Newsom had touted the district judge's decision as a win. 'The court just confirmed what we all know — the military belongs on the battlefield, not on our city streets,' Newsom wrote in a statement on X. 'This win is not just for California, but the nation. It's a check on a man whose authoritarian tendencies are increasing by the day.' Newsom and Trump have been trading barbs all week. The governor raised concerns about Trump's mental acuity Thursday, saying the president fabricated details of a conversation about federalizing the state's National Guard. The military said that by Friday evening, a battalion of 700 Marines is expected to join the National Guard in Los Angeles to protect ICE agents conducting immigration raids. After a week of unrest, more protests against the Trump administration's ongoing workplace raids erupted in Southern California and across the nation, which are expected to continue through the weekend, aligning with the president's birthday parade.
The Independent
30 minutes ago
- The Independent
Disorder breaks out at New Jersey immigration detention center
Protesters outside a New Jersey federal immigration detention center locked arms and pushed against barricades as vehicles passed through gates, inmates inside relayed word that meals had been delayed, and Newark 's mayor cited reports of a possible uprising and escape as disorder broke out at the facility. Much is still unclear about what unfolded at the Delaney Hall facility in Newark, where Immigrations and Customs Enforcement opened a 1,000-bed facility this year as part of President Donald Trump 's crackdown on illegal immigration. Photos and video from outside the facility Thursday show protesters pushing against the gates amid word that detainees inside were upset about delayed meals. Amy Torres, executive director of New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, said some officers sprayed pepper spray and tackled and dragged protesters away from the facility. She said some protesters had minor injuries, but no one was hit by the vehicles. An attorney for someone detained at the facility told told that people inside became violent after meals were delayed. 'It's about the food, and some of the detainees were getting aggressive and it turned violent,' attorney Mustafa Cetin said. 'Based on what he told me it was an outer wall, not very strong, and they were able to push it down.' Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat who's been critical of Trump's immigration crackdown, early Friday called for an end to this 'chaos and not allow this operation to continue unchecked.' 'We are concerned about reports of what has transpired at Delaney Hall this evening, ranging from withholding food and poor treatment, to uprising and escaped detainees,' he said. It's unclear whether there have been any escapes. Messages seeking comment were left with ICE, the Department of Homeland Security and local police. Delaney Hall has been the cite of clashes this year between Democratic officials who say the facility needs more oversight and the administration and those who run the facility. Baraka was arrested May 9, handcuffed and charged with trespassing. The charge was later dropped and Democratic Rep. LaMonica McIver was later charged with assaulting federal officers stemming from a skirmish that happened outside the facility. She has denied the charges said she was doing her job as a lawmaker conducting oversight.
