McCarthy: Putin ‘probably’ wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if Biden sent arms sooner; Russia begins Donbas offensive in eastern UKR; Defending Eastern Donbas as Russian Activity Increases; Zelenskiy: UKR could become EU candidate within weeks, LIVE UPDATES and MORE

McCarthy: Putin ‘probably’ wouldn’t have invaded Ukraine if Biden sent arms sooner

Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy suggested Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin would “probably” have backed off invading Ukraine if President Biden had shipped military equipment to Kyiv earlier.

McCarthy, part of a delegation of bipartisan House members who traveled to Poland amid the war earlier this month, said he saw firsthand the “fortitude” of the Ukrainian people and the “devastation” that Russia is causing in Ukraine, even targeting women and children.

“This is going to get stronger and rougher, and what really needs to happen is Ukraine is not asking for American men and women to fight. All they’re asking for is the weapons to defend themselves,” the California Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“If we would have taken those actions earlier instead of waiting until after Russia invaded, they probably never would have invaded, had we done that sooner,” he said.

Fox News Washington correspondent Mike Emanuel pointed out that the Biden administration last week announced it was delivering $800 million in additional military assistance to Ukraine — totaling $2.6 billion — and asked what more the administration should be doing. —>READ MORE HERE

Russia begins Donbas offensive in eastern Ukraine:

Russian forces launched an attack on eastern Ukraine Monday, attempting to break through Ukrainian lines in the Donbas area, the secretary of Ukraine’s defense council said.

“This morning, along almost the entire front line of Donetsk, Luhansk and Kharkiv regions, the occupiers attempted to break through our defenses,” Oleksiy Danilov said in televised comments.

“They began their attempt to start the active phase this morning,” he added.

The Pentagon did not dispute Ukrainian reports, Monday, but characterized the attacks as so-called “shaping operations” in preparation of a larger, future assault.

“We still consider what we’re seeing to be a piece of shaping operations, that the Russians are continuing to set the conditions for what they believe will be eventual success on the ground,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told reporters.

“We believe that the Russians are shaping and setting the conditions for future offensive operations. We also see that there is active combat going on the the Donbas — as there has been for the last several weeks,” he added. —>READ MORE HERE

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