Russian President Vladimir Putin likely isn't taking President Joe Biden seriously when he warns him against invading Ukraine, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy told Newsmax.
That's because Putin watched Biden's botched troop pullout from Afghanistan, which was done on the Taliban's timetable, not that of U.S. military advisers, McCarthy, R-Calif., said Thursday on ''Spicer & Co.''
''Why doesn't he treat Putin the way he treats American energy workers and deny him the pipeline?'' McCarthy asked, a reference to Biden's canceling construction of the Keystone XL pipeline project from Canada to the Gulf Coast, which Republicans argue would create jobs and further U.S. energy independence.
At the same time, the Biden administration was standing aside as Russia pushed a deal with Germany for the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline that will make the European ally dependent on Russia for a less clean form of energy than could have been supplied by the United States.
''When you understand Putin, Putin only looks at the world in black and white. He only understands strength and weaknesses,'' McCarthy told hosts Sean Spicer and Lyndsay Keith.
When Putin talked about his reason for taking Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, it was ''because no one told him he could not,'' McCarthy said. ''He's built up more than 100,000 troops along the border. I believe the only reason he's done this is because the failure of President Biden, the way he handled Afghanistan.''
That weakness, McCarthy said, probably drove Putin to amass troops along the border of Ukraine. U.S. military intelligence has predicted a possible invasion in early 2022.
''But this is one time that we should speak as one voice to send a very clear message to Putin that it is wrong for him to invade,'' he said.
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