Bolton says Trump made it "that much easier" for Putin to invade Ukraine

• But Trump's national security adviser Bolton pushed back, saying "in almost every case, the sanctions were imposed with Trump complaining about it, saying we were being too hard."
• He also noted that the former president did not sanction Nord Stream 2 which his administration "should have," and that Trump "barely knew where Ukraine was."

The big picture: Bolton said in an interview with Vice that Trump made it "that much easier" for Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine by spreading conspiracy theories during the 2020 elections about the Democratic National Committee servers and Hunter Biden profiting in Ukraine.

• "It all stems from this Trump obsession ... that really made sensible conversation about bilateral U.S.-Ukraine issues very, very difficult," Bolton said.
• "To the extent that there was an unnatural environment created, it made it that much easier for Putin."

Worth noting: Bolton also said that Trump's praising Putin for being "very savvy" was "embarrassing" for the U.S.

• Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment.

Go deeper:

• Bolton's hidden aftershocks
• Get the latest with the Ukraine-Russia dashboard