Donald Trump plans to 'green light' Putin's advances in Ukraine and could cut funding altogether, says former head of CIA John Brennan as Zelensky invites the former President to visit Kyiv

Former CIA director John Brennan has warned that if Donald Trump is elected again in November, he cut severely cut military aid funding to Ukraine which would serve as a 'green light' for Putin's expansion plans throughout Europe. 

Those comments, made in an interview with Belgian TV, comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky tells Politico that he has publicly and non-publicly invited Trump to come and visit the front lines of the war. 

Zelensky told the website that Trump is interested in the idea but that he isn't sure when he could make the visit. The president rejected the notion put forward by many, including Trump, that the invasion by surrendering parts of Ukraine to Putin.

'If the deal is that we just give up our territories, and that’s the idea behind it, then it’s a very primitive idea,' Zelensky said. 

'We said that we would like Donald Trump to come to Ukraine, see everything with his own eyes and draw his own conclusions. In any case, I am ready to meet him and discuss the issue.'

Zelensky has met with US President Joe Biden numerous times since Russia's invasion began, the pair are shown here in February 2024

Zelensky has said that Trump expressed interest in coming to Ukraine to see the frontlines but that a date has not been set for any proposed visit 

Meanwhile Brennan illustrated how Trump could disable Ukraine's war effort by instructing US intelligence officials to cease helping their counterparts in addition to cutting aid. 

'And that would give Vladimir Putin the green light to try to almost swallow up Ukraine. And unfortunately, I think it will encourage Vladimir Putin to look hungrily toward the rest of Europe,' Brennan said. 

'The future of Ukraine and Europe is more secure if Joe Biden is elected. If Donald Trump is elected, that changes everything and serious questions will arise about the will of the United States to resist to Russian aggression in the future.'

Just this week, British Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron appeared to fail in his mission to convince Trump to tell the pro-Putin wing of the Republican party to support the most recent Ukrainian aid package that has stalled in Congress. 

In the past, Cameron has insulted Trump's intelligence and called him a 'misogynist' and a 'xenophobe.' 

Brennan, who was relieved of his position shortly after Trump took office in 2017, went on to say that the Republican frontrunner doesn't understand the importance of NATO. 

'We could see in particular that he did not understand the importance of the United States' relations with our foreign allies and partners. He has little recognition for the transatlantic relationship, for NATO.'

At a campaign rally in February, Trump made it clear that he would not protect fellow NATO members from Russian aggression, going so far as to say he would encourage Putin to 'do whatever the hell' he wanted. 

Former CIA Director John Brennan was ousted by Trump in 2017, he says the former Apprentice host doesn't understand the importance of the US/Nato relationship 

Brennan says that is the US pulls back its funding for Ukraine, it will serve as a 'green light' for Putin to do whatever he wants 

In his Politico interview, Zelensky said that he was optimistic that the aid package would come to pass.  

Brennan also brought up President Joe Biden's age and recent gaffes but said that the recent State of the Union address allayed any fears about his mental competence. 

The former CIA director went onto say that Biden is 'increasingly frustrated and less and less tolerant of Israeli military aggression in Gaza' and said that Scranton-native would put pressure on Netanyahu's government to seek out a peace deal. 

'Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed or injured in this conflict,' Brennan said. 

Finally, Brennan said that he was 'appalled' by 'dishonest' Republicans who continue to support Trump despite his violent and divisive rhetoric. 

'Unfortunately, Donald Trump and some of his supporters continue to use flowery language which sometimes incites violence. Donald Trump, for example, spoke of a bloodbath if Joe Biden was re-elected.'

'In the United States, the potential for violence is fueled by politicians who try to instill fear in citizens. This worries me and others in the national security community.'

Earlier in the interview, Brennan said that back in 2016, Trump refused to believe that Russian operatives had impacted the results of the presidential election. 

In his interview with Politico, Zelensky also took on that issue arguing that Russia is warping 'the information field of the world.' 

'They pump their narratives through the media. These are not Russian citizens or natives of Russia, no. They are representatives of certain media groups, citizens of the United States. They are the ones in the media with the appropriate messages, sometimes very pro-Russian,' the president said.