Donald Trump Calls John Bolton 'Irrelevant' After Former Aide Says He 'Barely Knew Where Ukraine Was'

Sean Gallup/Getty President Donald Trump and former National Security Advisor John Bolton together at a NATO summit in Brussels on July 12, 2018.

Donald Trump's National Security Advisor John Bolton threw ice cold water on the notion that the former president was tough on Vladimir Putin and prevented an earlier attack on Ukraine by Russia through measures taken during his administration.

"The fact is that he barely knew where Ukraine was," Bolton said of Trump during an interview with conservative news outlet Newsmax Tuesday.

Newsmax host Rob Schmitt made the case that Trump managed to deter Putin from invading Ukraine during his term in office.

"There is something to be said about the simple fact that there was not aggression [from Russia] during the four years" of Trump's presidency, Schmitt said, adding that "they waited him out, it seems, and made a move" until President Joe Biden was in the White House.

After Schmitt listed ways that Trump was "pretty tough on Russia," citing sanctions put in place by his administration, and claimed the former president "took a very tough stance" against the country that invaded Ukraine on Thursday, Bolton responded.

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"No, he didn't," he said.

"I'm surprised you don't think that he would have handled it better than Joe Biden," Schmitt also said.

Bolton acknowledged the sanctions were imposed but with Trump "complaining about it, saying we were being too hard."

"The fact is he barely knew where Ukraine was," Bolton said, adding that the former president once asked White House Chief of Staff John Kelly "if Finland were a part of Russia."

"It's just not accurate to say that Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians," Bolton continued. "I think the evidence is that Russia didn't feel their military was ready."

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Bolton worked for Trump from April 2018 until September 2019.

Asked for a response to the former national security advisor's remarks about the president and Russia, Trump spokesperson Taylor Budowich told PEOPLE, "John Bolton was fired because he believes anything less than war is not enough. President Trump ensured peace during his administration and ended wars, making Bolton irrelevant."

Alex Wong/Getty From left: former President Donald Trump and former National Security Advisor John Bolton

Trump previously called Putin's decision to declare portions of Ukraine independent ahead of Russia's invasion "genius" and praised the leader as "very savvy."

Russia's attack on Ukraine continues after the country invaded Thursday, with forces moving from the north, south and east.

Details of the fighting change by the day, but this is the first major land conflict in Europe in decades — and hundreds have already been reported dead or wounded, including children.

Thousands more people have fled or tried to escape Ukraine amid warnings of a possible "refugee crisis."

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"You don't know where to go, where to run, who you have to call," Liliya Marynchak, a 45-year-old teacher in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, told PEOPLE recently of the moment her city was bombed.

"This is just panic," she said.

The invasion, ordered by Putin, has drawn widespread condemnation around the world and penalties against Russia.

Various countries have pledged aid or military support to Ukraine, whose president Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for peace talks — since seemingly stalled — while urging his country to resist.

Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the interest of so-called "peacekeeping."

"The prayers of the entire world are with the people of Ukraine," Biden said as the invasion began in force last week.