Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., told Newsmax on Friday that President Joe Biden is "always about two months behind" in helping Ukrainians defend against ongoing Russian aggression.
Friday marked the first anniversary of Russian President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
"Generally, I think President Biden has got to the right place, but he's always about two months behind," Bacon said during an appearance on Newsmax's "National Report." "He should have been helping arm Ukraine back in December, before the invasion, when we had the intelligence.
"He started getting more serious about April or May, after the invasion. He eventually got there, but he's always a little slow to do what is actually needed, and I think he's too fearful of provoking Russia."
Bacon said that the general consensus a year ago was that "Ukraine would fall in about two weeks."
"That's what Gen. [Mark] Milley [chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,] said, that's what the military experts thought," Bacon said. "But the Ukrainians have over performed. Russia has terribly underperformed.
"We just have to assume this war is going to go on for awhile. It's really up to the Russians. The Russians have to stop this or pull out, and we're going to have to convince them to do it, and it's going to take continued support by this country to make that happen."
Bacon pointed to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, which led to a protracted conflict that didn't end until 1989.
"At some point, Putin, or the people around him, or the top generals, are going to have to realize that they're losing too many soldiers," Bacon said. "Their army has taken a beating; they've lost about half their tanks. Their air force has also been greatly wounded."
Peace is going to have to come from the Russian side because "Ukraine can't back down," Bacon said.
"They're fighting for their lives," he said. "They're fighting for their culture, their history. Russia wants to eliminate Ukraine as a country and eliminate their nationality. They see them as Russians, not Ukrainians."
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