MOSCOW — Hours after US President Donald Trump announced that H.R. McMaster had departed as national security adviser and would be replaced by John Bolton — a longtime detractor of Iran, Iraq, Russia and North Korea, among others — Russia was among the first to react to the news.

Though some Russian officials reacted cautiously and expressed a willingness to work with Washington regardless of who Trump puts into key foreign policy posts, others made it clear that Moscow is genuinely concerned by the course American foreign policy has taken in recent months. Bolton, who was named to the position March 22 — near the 15th anniversary of the start of the US campaign in Iraq — advocated for that war and still does. It's an understatement to say he is seen as a controversial figure.

“Bolton, along with Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld, was an ardent supporter of the war in Iraq. A supporter of jihadists for the sake of overthrowing [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad]. A great specialist in interventions and aggression, and adept at the use of force," Russian Sen. Alexey Pushkov, the chair of the Council of the Federation Committee on Informational Policy, wrote in a March 23 tweet. He was referring to former President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Trump has replaced McMaster, a "hawk," with "super-hawk and neocon John Bolton," said Pushkov, who is also active on Russian foreign policy matters. "McMaster is a general. Bolton is the ideologue of a new cold war, a convinced opponent of Russia."