EXCLUSIVE: Like Ukraine renews his call for an invitation to join the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance, a former senior Trump official warned that such a move “risks World War III.”

Reflecting on various geopolitical threats in an interview with Fox News Digital, former national security adviser Robert O’Brien said the United States could offer security guarantees to Ukraine and tougher sanctions on the against Russia, but could not respond to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s request for an invitation to NATO without serious escalation.

“To bring a country into NATO and into the alliance that is at war with Russia “is very provocative towards the Russians and could lead to escalation or even nuclear war,” he said.

“We can certainly give Ukraine security guarantees… send troops from Eastern Europe (to Ukraine) to help ensure peace once a peace deal is reached. But l “NATO is too provocative at this stage.”

O’Brien’s view provides insight into how a future Trump administration might approach global crises in the Middle East, Russia and the Far East. O’Brien, who served as former President Donald Trump’s top adviser on national security issues from 2019 to 2021, has been touted as a possible choice for secretary of state or another role focused on national security.

Former National Security Advisor Robert C. O’Brien speaks at the rally for Republican vice presidential candidate Senator JD Vance at the Tucson Speedway in Tucson, Arizona, October 9, 2024.

“Of course” he would accept a position in the White House if Trump is succeeded in November and offered him one, he said.

“It’s always an honor to serve the country and serve the president. But I’m not campaigning for a job,” he said. “There are a lot of really great people who would love to work for the president.”

The way out of the war, according to O’Brien, is through the negotiating table, and tougher sanctions are needed to cripple the Russian economy and bring them to the table. “The sanctions have been relatively minor,” O’Brien said. “They didn’t sanction the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. They didn’t kick people out of SWIFT. They took the yachts of a few oligarchs.”

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Last week, a growing number of countries seeking to move away from the US dollar and challenge Western hegemony gathered at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, to escape Western sanctions.

“I think we need to use sanctions less. But when we use them, we should use them in a comprehensive way. I think sanctions on the wrist are the worst of all. They encourage people to abandon the dollar as a mechanism commercial,” he added. but this does not achieve the goal of truly punishing the target country,” the former adviser said.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said recently that the United States is expected to announce new sanctions in the coming days aimed at curbing the Russian war effort. The restrictions will target secondary entities that supply Russia with essential supplies.

“Ukraine is going to have real demographic problems if it doesn’t stop the war,” mused O’Brien. “We will leave it to the Ukrainians to decide what they are willing to trade for peace.”

In the Middle East, O’Brien said: President Joe Biden tried to “force Israel actions.”

“From negotiations with Hamas terrorists, to the failure to send our special forces to rescue the Americans taken hostage, to the failure to punish Hamas for killing 30 Americans on October 7, to ‘to today, with Biden and Harris trying to dictate to Israel what targets they can hit in Iran – all plans are weak.’

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From the left, Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris lost their support because they did not take a strong enough stance against Israel’s offensive campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon – campaigns that damaged Israel’s standing among its neighbors.

This raises the question of whether Israel would normalize relations with Saudi Arabia – a deal that was close to being reached when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

O’Brien said he was not worried about Israel’s position in the Middle East. “I’m actually surprised at how durable the Abraham Accords have been,” referring to the agreements between Israel, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco that he helped negotiate under Trump.

O’Brien’s name has been floated as a candidate for a national security-focused role in the Trump administration.

“I think Saudi Arabia will absolutely rejoin the agreements. It may take Donald Trump winning the election for that to happen,” O’Brien said.

But that will likely depend on the makeup of Congress. Two-thirds of the Senate would need to approve the deal – a high bar for Saudi Arabia, who has been accused of human rights violations and involvement in the September 11 attacks. To add to the controversy, the deal would likely include the United States agreeing to allow the Saudis to work on nuclear projects for energy purposes.

Such an agreement would amount to a crucial realignment of the Middle East and further isolate Iran. But this week, Saudi Arabia and Iran conducted unprecedented joint military exercises in the Gulf of Oman.

But O’Brien ignored the threat of a possible realignment by a US ally, as Iran awaits Israel’s counterattack for the 200 missiles it fired at Tel Aviv on October 1.

“Iran has been exposed because it barks a lot and bites less,” he said. “They don’t have an air force to speak of. They have a few old F 14 Tom Cats that can’t get to Israel. They don’t have a real navy to speak of. And their missile attacks have been blunted with little damage or loss of life in Israel.”

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And while Harris Iran said is the biggest geopolitical threat to the United States, O’Brien insists it’s China.

“If Iran poses such a great threat to our freedom, why have we stood by and not implemented sanctions?” he asked.

“China is the biggest threat to America. China has the demographics, the population, it works hard, it has a massive economy. China is an existential threat to America because it could fight us in a war and change our way of life. Iran can never defeat us in a war. They cannot change our way of life.