. >> and sam kiley is in kiev. sam, how are ukranian officials responding to these latest decisions and movements? >> reporter: they are very delighted to see more arrival of weapons, very important weapons to the javelin anti-arrest mower weapon that comes on top of previous supplies from the united states. and about ten days ago, supplies of armor killing weapons from the british too. these are sort of tactical nonstrategic weapons that would be very useful if the country were to get invaded. they have more than 220,000 soldiers now under arms in the regular forces in the ukraine. so they are better set, but they couldn't in any long term sense resist russian aggression. but it is this russian aggression that has caused increase in security in the u.s. embassy, more u.s. marine corps key personnel is being brought in as the u.s. and others are downsizing. >> so sorry do this, if you could stand by -- >> -- border. and i made it clear early on to president putin that if he were to move into ukraine, that there wou

sam kiley in kyiv as well. so u.s. marines bolstering security at the american embassy in kyiv. president zelenski of ukraine is telling citizens to stay calm. understandably so, but i imagine u.s. experience here, they learn from what they saw in kabul and afghanistan. they're taking every precaution they can. >> reporter: well, jim, they're not alone either. if you look at who else is downsizing their embassies here in kyiv, that would be the brits and the australians and the germans. if you put aside the germans, that's three of the five of the exclusive five intelligence club, only missing from those two is canada and new zealand. not sure if they've got an embassy here. they share intelligence. there is unanimity it seems in terms of intelligence analysis that is definitely worth getting into a position in which you protect your start, get rid of the, or move on non-essential staff from your embassies because there is a strong feeling that vladimir putin may well order a russian invasion. that sends a very poor signal indeed to the citizens of ukraine for two reasons as far

sam kiley, cnn, in abu dhabi. >> alarming use of new technology. sam kiley, thanks very much. >>> south korea says today's launches of two suspected short-range ballistic missiles from the north do nothing to improve relations between the two countries. south korean spokeswoman called the actions "very regrettable. "north korea launched four missiles just this month. >>> still ahead a global computer chip shortage but a new bipartisan piece of legislation here could invest tens of billions of dollars into returning chip manufacturing to the u.s. is there enough support to pass it? i'll speak to a republican and a democrat who are working on it, that's coming up. if you have this... consider adding this. an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan from unitedhealthcare. medicare supplement plans help by paying some of what medicare doesn't... and let you see any doctor. any specialist. anywhere in the u.s. who accepts medicare patients. so if you have this... consider adding this. call unitedhealthcare today for your free decision guide. ♪ looking

let's start with sam kiley live in ukraine. sam, good morning. the white house is calling an invasion imminent. officials in kyiv is saying it's not imminent. why aren't they on the same page? >> reporter: i think it's a very different approach in terms of national reassurance from the perspective of the foreign minister making statements to reinforce his own president's statement. there is an exitent threat of invasion. they don't want their public thinking they are hours from seeing tanks a broaching the border. the russians are two weeks from being poised for an invasion. they have troops in belarus in the north of the country. ukrainian officials, 120,000 russian troops close to the ukrainian border but not on t poised for a possible invasion, part of the ongoing pressure being maintained by russia. this is coming, of course, as the united states, united kingdom, australia, canada, germany began to remove what they're calling non-essential staff and diplomatic families from the ukrainian capitol here ahead of an inkrags. they are slightly out

joining us to discuss is nic robertson and sam kiley. sam, president zelensky just tweeted about the phone call. what does he have to say? >> so he's just -- just in the last few seconds, i think, jake, he's put out a statement saying we had a long phone conversation with potus, discussed recent diplomatic efforts on de-escalation and agreed on joint answers in the future. thank president biden for the ongoing military assistance, possibilities for financial support to ukraine were also discussed. so a fairly bland response. we had been expecting perhaps a little bit more detail on something we were led to believe was going to be discussed, which was a difference in tone and approach in terms of the u.s. and other allied rhetoric when it came to ukraine. and that specifically over the issue of whether or not an attack was imminent on russia, which is the view of the united states and the united kingdom, or the ukraine view which is they don't believe it is imminent. it is under threat and they're trying to calm their population, jake. bu

for more on all of this, sam kiley joins us live from kiev. sam, ukraine has learned to expect such attacks. but i'm wondering if they really believe that this is a prelude to a wider military conflict? >> reporter: i don't think there's any doubt at all in the minds of ukrainian officials and indeed their own intelligence services have reinforced that, with that statement you that mentioned earlier on. almost simultaneous with the u.s. extraordinary statement coming from the pentagon, giving a degree of detail that you would never normally see in terms of an exposure of covert operations in a rival territory, or conducted by a rival, but nonetheless, the ukrainians saying the false flag operation could be conducted against russian troop ss in moldova. and they have seen it. it's been used by russians elsewhere in chechnya. there were attacks by chechens that payment part of the rule decades ago. so, we have seen this before, they've seen it before here in ukraine, and the assumption, frankly, among ukrainian officials is if there is going to

. >> for the latest, cnn's sam kiley is live in the ukrainian capitol of kiev and nic robertson is in geneva, switzerland. nic, these are high stakes talks. what are the challenges ahead of finding ways to avert war? >> reporter: the challenges are extreme, and i think they're exemplified with the positions both parties go into. deputy secretary of state wendy sherman coming into the same room as sergei rebekov. they're including diplomats and military officials. that tells you something about the nature of these talks. the united states is coming into these talks saying nothing about you without you to its allies and partners ukraine and its nato and european allies and partners. that is designed to send the message to russia that they're not going to talk about broader issues that are outside of a very natural, narrow bilateral relations with the united states that could potentially include missile reductions in the future as long as they're reciprocal. the russians come into this thinking that they must get the united states to agree to changes in nato's posture so that the united

cnn's sam kiley joins us live from kiev. you know, sam, ukraine has seen all of this before, right? they have seever tn the rhetori. and they have seen the so-called allegations from u.s. intelligence of what's to come but at this point in time, are they doing anything differently, in order to prepare, given what little came out of the meetings in the last few days? >> reporter: well, the first thing is they continue to ask for more military help, more provisions of training, more weaponry. they know very well that no other nation is going to send troops to defend ukrainian territory, particularly against the russian invasion. they don't want to see a third world war started on their territory. but they do want help seeing off any potential invasion. that will be something that has changed the calculus for vladimir putin when he's deciding whether or not to send troops in on the ground. in 2014 there really wasn't much of a ukrainian army to speak of at all. they can now muster some 200,000 members of the armed forces who have been trained on nato-type weaponry, getting to towards n

. >> cnn correspondent sam kiley joins us now from ukraine. so sam, tell us what you know about the attack. >> reporter: well the hackers, according to the government here, hit about 70 websites. i have to say it is low level. they've said that there was an infiltration they believe through one of the suppliers or a number of suppliers that provide the website facilities for these government sites. it was disrupted but it wasn't catastrophic. there has been, as far as government here is concerned, no hacking of personal details, no hacking into ministry of defense or interior. but it is this drip feed if you like, from their perspective, of yet more pressure coming from whom they suspect most of all which would be of course russia. now of course it is very difficult quickly to identify where these pressure points are coming from and it comes in terms of cyberattacks, unless it is the case that russia wants people to know that its fingerprints are on it and which in all likelihood it does. and if it is part of the pressure campaign that we've h

for more on all of this, let's bring in cnn's sam kiley live in kiev for us. so, sam, firstly, what to make of these false flag allegations. what's the reaction there? >> reporter: michael, it very much is in the russian playbook. we've seen it back during the chechen wars with attacks on russian civilians blamed on the chechens, arguably conducted by another, that finger in those days pointing at the kremlin. similarly we're seeing u.s. intelligence saying they have information that covert units based in the area of eastern ukraine that's been under russian tutelage effectively since 2014, russian-backed rebels nominally in control, russian forces undercover there, that there are plans they believe to conduct a false flag, an attack on their own side effectively, that the russian rebels would then blame on the ukrainian government and use that as a cause. simultaneously, ukrainians also came out with a statement that they had intelligence over a similar planning for an attack on russian troops in mold var, where there are also russian troops based there. all

cnn's sam kiley has more. >> reporter: it's all a bit out of date now. dubbed little sparta, the united arab emirates took a muscular approach to foreign policy. supporting nato in afghanistan, making war in yemen, backing rebels in libya, and it didn't work. criticized by human rights groups in the u.n., they are out of yemen and out of punching its way to recognition. it's a move from war to jar. >> it began in 2018, in our final days of presence in yemen, that it was -- that was influenced by the whole covid ordeal. and i think from that reset, we realized that the challenges of the next decade are not necessarily the same challenges of the past decade. >> reporter: the emirates' shift is from taking sides to bringing opposing sides together. >> we are going to be an influencer in the region, but our flinfluence is going to be through different tools, through this sort of diplomatic navigation, through keeping this balance between all of these different relationships that we have. >> reporter: that's already meant snubbing u.s. appeals for more sancti

cnn's sam kiley explains how volunteer militias are preparing to defend their democracy. >> reporter: an abandoned factory near kyiv is now a training ground for civilians who volunteer to fight off the possible russian invasion. they're outnumbered here by journalists and armed with pellet guns. they know they'll be outmatched by moscow's military machine but they are keen. >> we have really big risk that russian invasion might occur very soon, so this is why even civilians have to be ready. >> reporter: these men believe that it's their country's democracy that vladimir putin fears more than a threat posed by european union and nato membership. >> all russian citizens are completely slaves. ukrainians gave to russians and bad example. we show to our neighbors how each citizen of free will must defend his social and national rights. >> reporter: you wouldn't know that ukraine's government says that russia has at least 127,000 troops amassed on three sides of the country, when no sides impending war. and in the poorer districts where people hope whatever they can to get by, the mood i

cnn's sam kiley has more. >> reporter: an a ban danned asphalt factory near kyiv is a training ground for civilians who volunteered to fight off a possible russian invasion. they're out numbered here by journalists and armed at best with pellet guns. they know they will be outmatched by moscow's military machines. >> it is a crucial moment for our country. we have a really big risk of a russian invasion that might occur. even civilians have to be ready. >> reporter: these men believe it is their country's democracy that vladimir putin fears more than a threat posed by european unions and nato membership. >> all russian citizens are completely slaves. he feels it's a threat because ukrainians gave to russians a bad example. we show our neighbors how each free will must defend his social and national rights. >> reporter: you wouldn't know that ukraine's government says that are issue that has at least 127,000 troops on three sides of the country here in the capital where there are no signs of impending war. and in the poorer districts, where people hold whatever they can to get by, the

sam kiley is in kyiv for us. do we know any more about this call from the ukrainians? >> reporter: well, no, we don't know any detail yet. we haven't had a readout from that call. there are indications of what the substance of it it would be, as victor was saying about some of the rhetoric. now we unpick how president zelensky has been reacting to some of the statements made by the united states and others, particularly the united kingdom over the last couple of weeks. obviously he was rattled by the remark made by president biden when he indicated there would be lesser response if there was a lesser invasion, if you like. the united states has rode back on that, in lock step with ukraine saying any kind of military action here would be met with massive response, and that is the position of the rest of western europe. but then you have both the uk and the u.s. saying an attack potentially by russia is imminent. they do not agree with that here in ukraine. they say it's not imminent. it's possible it could be weeks away and none of their intelligence indicates that the

sam kiley, cnn, kyiv. >>> in washington, u.s. senators say they're close to reaching a bipartisan deal on russian sanctions. senator bob menendez, who chairs the foreign relations committee tells cnn some sanctions could happen up-front while harsher measures would take effect if russia invades ukraine. but he says lawmakers are united on sending a clear message to moscow. >> we are committed jointly in a bipartisan way to defend ukraine and to send putin a message. it will be bloody and consequential. >> mennendez says he is hopeful the senate can reach a deal later this week. as u.s. lawmakers get closer to a deal on sanctions, there are mounting concerns moscow could hit back by slashing fuel supplies to the west. in particular europe especially worrisome for eu countries. they get about 40% from their natural gas from russia. also, key pipelines run through ukraine. a russian invasion would threaten the country's energy infrastructure, while europe would be hardest hit, experts say disruptions would ripple around the world, s

cnn's sam kiley is standing by for us live from ukraine. listen, there were very sobering assessments of what happened in week and none of it good for ukraine. i'm wondering what the reaction is there on the ground. after there were some hopes perhaps more compromise, more talks would take place, now they're saying there's no point in even talking. >> reporter: there wasn't a great deal of faith among the ukrainians, paula, that the talks would lead anywhere. but they have done two things, they say. they've reinforced their sense of security in that nato has not countenanced any of the demands being made by the russians, first. secondly, in large part, revealed to nato vladimir putin's hand in that he now has absolutely clear lines, may even accelerate the process of ukraine being able to join nato. that was the analysis of the deputy prime minister when i spoke to her just a few hours ago. i understand we're not going to be playing that, paula. but when we were speaking with the deputy prime minister, who is the lead to nato and to the eur

thank you, nic robertson, sam kiley for your reporting. >>> joining us is max boot, a senior fellow at the council on foreign relations and columnist for "the washington post." max, you have a new op-ed in "the post" arguing the u.s. can't afford to leave ukraine and europe at putin's mercy. i think some americans are wondering, but how does this impact my life? max, make the case for why the average american should care about the outcome of this international crisis. >> well, we've cared about the fate of europe for a long time, ana. ever since world war ii. and we did not care enough about the fate of europe in the '20s and '30s and you can see where that got us. i think u.s. presidents going back decades, have recognized we have a major take keeping it as free as possible. it's the largest economy in the world, one of our major trade partners and largest concentration of democracies in the world and ukraine sothe outer edge of europe, a pro-western democracy that wants to be part of the west. we justice allow putin to get awiwei with invading ukraine that's going to be bad news for

and it's with iran that the emirates have been trying to warm relations, wolf. >> cnn's sam kiley in abu dhabi. thank you for that report. >>> we're also tracking another north korean missile launch that's rattling nerves in the region and around the world. cnn's brian todd is working the story. what can you tell us about this latest missile test? >> reporter: the north korean gave an update on the latest test launch saying they fired off two tactical guided missiles. this is a tense period in the region as kim jong-un's regime has been testing even more dangerous missiles. >> for the fourth time just this month, north korea's young dictator gets aggressive with his missiles. kim jong-un's regime saying it fired two tactical guided missiles into the east coast today. >> with this series of tests one right after the other, it indicates that kim thinks he can push the international community around. >> the military programs have progressed and he's ready to test new systems. one of them is a hypersonic system and secondly he's got a rail-based system that he wants to deploy as well. >>

. >> cnn's sam kiley is in ukraine and reports both sides are jockeying for position ahead of the u.n. meeting. >> reporter: fred, both the russian and ukrainian foreign ministers are restating their now well-established positions ahead of meetings at the united nations. the russians are saying that with the continued deployment of nato troops in eastern europe, the possible increase in troop numbers being offered by the, nighted kingdom and united states, all a provocation, indeed a threat to russia. simultaneously with that, ukrainian foreign ministry saying that if the russians are serious about any kind of diplomacy then they need to move back from their positions which look threatening on ukraine's eastern borders but also in belarus to the north just two or three hours north of here. kyiv, the capital of ukraine, fred. so in that context, meetings at the u.n. are unlikely to produce anything more than potentially an agreement to keep disagreeing, but keep it verbal. the reason for this is that from the ukrainian perspective, that would be a positive step. from the american persp

sam kiley, cnn, kyiv. >>> the beijing winter olympics kick off this week. but new infections are on the rise as athletes arrive in china. we'll go live to beijing for the very latest. this is yourur home. this is your family y room slash gym. the guest bedroom slash music studio. the daybed slash dog bed. the living room slash yoga e slash classroom. and this is the basement slash panic room. maybe what your family needs is a vacation home slash vacation home. find yours on the vrbo app. ♪ yep, it's go time with wireless on the most reliable network. ok, that jump was crazy! but what's crazier? you get unlimited for just 30 bucks. nice! but mine has 5g included. wait! 5g included? yup, even these guys get it. nice ride, by the way. and the icing on the cake? saving up to 400 bucks? exactly. wait, shouldn't you be navigating? xfinity mobile. it's wireless that does it all and saves a lot. like a lot, a lot. >>> all eyes are on china. with just four days until the winter olympics begin. and now nearly 40 new covid infections are being reported amid olympic

sam kiley is following all of this from kiev. what more do we know about the attack and who do ukrainian officials us is suspect is behi? >> reporter: the first thing to say is that naturally twill be russia or russia's proxies inside eastern ukraine or somewhere in the ukrainian europe who will be top of the suspect list for ukrainian officials as they investigate this relatively low level cyber attack. a lot of different websites were taken down. but this is quite close to sort of denial of service attack, not the sort of very sophisticated attack the russian state is capable of prosecuting. we have seen that prosecuted inside the united states and europe in the past. perhaps part of a psychological warfare operation. this was an attack that brought down websites, not the ministry of defense or the ministry of the interior, the foreign affairs ministry and then claimed responsibility on behalf of an obscure group of separatist supporters. also an obscure reference to polish pro russian elements there. so really part of the psyc

. >> cnn senior international correspondent sam kiley is following all of this from kiev. sam, a spokesman for putin said those reports are unfounded. i don't know that you would expect anything different from that. but what more are you hearing? >> reporter: so, first, the false flag, as it's called attack that the pentagon say that they have intelligence has been uncovered in the donbas region, that's in the eastern ukraine area, occupied in 2014 by russian-backed rebels. now false flag attack, as you know is when a government, or an agency attacks itself, or its own people, in order to blame a third party. so, in the past, russia has been accused of doing this relating to chechnya, russia was blamed in the end for attacking its own people and blaming the chechans. and undercover operatives from the donbas region is planning to attack in that area and blame the ukrainians and use that as an use for making war. at the same time, ukrainians say they've uncovered a similar plot that they say is under folding in moldova also against russian troops that they say they would th

. >> sam kiley is in kyiv for us. you hear the ukrainian foreign minister trying to say this is our decision, this is our country. but ukraine does very much need its friends. >> it does need its friends. its freds today, john, have been delivering in the form of u.s. military aid. among other things, large amounts of weapons, including the javelin anti-tank weapon. very important tactical weapon here. that's on top of similar -- rather smaller anti-tank weapons being provided by the british about ten days ago. so they are getting material support. they have been a bit rattled here also by kind of psychological damage they feel that's been done by the announcement that the u.s. is increasing its presence of u.s. marines in the embassy here, drawing down the numbers of people, getting rid of nonessential staff, families in the u.s. embassy nepbrits have done the same, as if the australians and germans. three of those five are part of the five is community who share intelligence. the anglo-saxon world. the outliers bein

cnn's senior international correspondent sam kiley joins us live from abu dhabi. let's start with these latest attacks. what happened? what led to them? >> well, they were provoked, if you like. they came as recompense for an attack earlier in the week here on abu dhabi itself. on the emirati capital in which two missiles or drones fired by the houthis struck close to the international airport but more importantly, in terms of casualties and oil, petroleum facility, that could have been a lot worse. killing three and injuring at least six. so in that context, the saudi-led coalition promised to exact revenge and very rapidly they conducted a series of air strikes much heavier than has been seen for more than a year by the saudi-led coalition against houthi positions, resulting now tragically in these mass deaths. the worst of the killings was in one location in asada province which hit a transit point or detention center for migrants. believe it or not, there are people traversing war-torn yemen in search of work elsewhere. particularly in saudi arabia. and it wou

let's go to our cnn senior international correspondent sam kiley who is live in kyiv. ukraine has said there are more than 100,000 russian troops on the border. we've heard from the pentagon in the u.s. that those troop numbers are growing, perhaps daily. yet there in ukraine, they're trying to push back on the suggestion that an invasion is imminent. why would ukraine be downplaying this threat, especially if they need help from others to fend off a potential attack? >> well, ana, i think there are two answers to that question in a sense. the first is that they have a different interpretation of the same intelligence and the second is that they don't want to be delivering to the russians a degree of premature victory in the form of economics here in ukraine. this is how president zelensky spelled out the differences. >> i'm the president of ukraine. i am based here. and i think i know the details deeper than any other president. the question is not about the u.s. president because we do understand what the risks are and which of those risks are priority risks. and we'

. >> let's get to kiev and cnn's senior international correspondent sam kiley following this for us. a spokesperson for vladimir putin said the reports are unfounded. but we wouldn't expect them to acknowledge that they're planning a false-flag operation, right? >> reporter: kind of spoils the game, didn't it. if you give people advance warning you're going to cheat in the game of war. no, the very serious aspect to this story, and it is two different tor story, making a public announcement citing secret intelligence on what they say is an active plot to carry out this false-flag attack under the american intelligence allegedly in donbast which is under occupation by russian back rebels and there are cooperatives planning to conduct an attack on their own side to blame on ukraine. and almost simultaneously with that, the ukrainians say they have intelligence of a similar plot against russian troops in mauld ova, equally to be blamed on ukraine. but in both cases, they say that the false-flag attack, this type of attack that's been used and they have a further military incursion into

. >>> let's bring in veteran cnn international correspondent sam kiley in kyiv right now. it's interesting to hear allies publicly discussing differences, some of them nuanced, some more significant in the middle of a war and peace question. you heard zelensky there saying i just understand ukraine better than joe biden. it's not a big deal. i understand my country better. here he's answering a question from matthew chance and lays out some disagreement. listen. >> what are you asking for that he's not given you? >> the sanctions are not designed for our country to help our country. because this is to stop the full-fledged aggression towards the european union. but this cannot be done at the expense of our country. it's not the way to do it. we have 15,000 deaths in the war and many countries of the world discounts the sanctions which will be applied only after the fact. and i am being very honest, and that's what i mean. >> help me through that, but essentially seems to be saying, i see what the united states, the european union, the nato allies are doing. it helps them,

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sam kiley is live in kyiv for us tracking developments. negotiators report progress here and the parties will meet again in a couple of weeks. >> reporter: yes, it is potentially rather confusing for everybody, this in say sense is a side show to the main event. you got the russian pressure on ukraine, the potential for an invasion or expansion of the area that is being talked about in those peace talks that you referred to. that's called the donbas region in eastern ukraine, which has been seized effectively by russian-backed rebels. now, there was a cease-fire agreement signed in minsk that has been observed largely in its breach. people are dying on an almost weekly basis. and the effort being made in this multilateral talks known as the normandy process is to try to dial down the violence there, get a cease-fire in place, which might in a sense symbolically help the wider issue, which is the persistent and the view of the united states imminent threat of an invasion of the wider ukraine. in an effort by vladimir putin's russia to seize

cnn's sam kiley live in ukraine's capital of kyiv and joins us now. sam, more world leaders are speaking out in this critical moment. what's the very latest from there? >> reporter: they are speaking out and try to speak out in response to kind of vibrations coming from the ukrainians. active reassurance being effectively by the ukrainians, almost angered by plans by the u.n., u.s., uk, germany to downsize, kate, indicating that the central government here in ukraine immediately got on the front, try to calm its population and also insisting that there would be no deal about ukraine or ukraine done behind their backs. that's something they've been repeating consistently and just as that was going on, of course, boris johnson, the british prime minister speaking at westminster, also keen to reassure the ukrainians, this is what he said. >> what putin basically wants is to go back to the old system of spheres of influence. and it's not just ukraine, madam deputy seeker, that he has his eye on. that this moment matters for the whole geometry and security

sam kiley is in abu dhabi for us. it seems like this is a rather close call. >> reporter: a very close call, indeed. the second in seven days. it was a week ago on monday, today, that three people were killed in a missile or drone strike launched by the houthis, also very close to abu dhabi. they promised more strikes and that is exactly what they have attempted. now, according to the pentagon, both missiles from the u.s. base there and other anti-missile missile united states of the emirates engaged these missiles and it is some remarkable video footage of the missiles being shot down by what the pentagon said was a multiple launch of these protected, defensive missile systems. the emirates have patriot, they have a wide range of u.s. manufactured anti-missile missiles, precisely for this sort of eventuality. the weird thing from the emirates perspective, they've been sucked into a war that they thought they had extracted themselves from back in 2020, jake. >> yeah. let's talk about that. obviously our viewers know t

sam kiley from kyiv. we've been hearing from the president who is trying to assure ukrainians. has it eased their concerns? >> reporter: the really striking thing i have to say about ukrainians at the moment, isa, is they are worried but they are not panicking and that has been the message how they should continue to behave coming from their president, zelensky. he has been speaking of broadcasting using facebook following the decisions by the united states, united kingdom, australia, canada, germany to withdraw diplomats and ship some of the diplomatic families out of the ukrainian capitol of kyiv in preparation for or protect them from a possible, not a certain but a possible russian invasion. the ukrainians saying they don't see evidence of an immediately imminent russian invasion. they are worried about an invasion in the future. they are hoping some kind of diplomatic breakthrough. they are very anxious, indeed, as we heard in that interview with clarissa about schisms or differences of opinion or attitude emerging from the europeans. there has always been a different effo

>> sam kiley, thank you for that. >>> and joining me now is retired army brigadier general, the author of "swimming the volga." general, tell us, do you feel like this crisis is spiraling toward military conflict? >> good evening, pamela. thank you for having me on your show. this is deadly serious. it's hard to negotiate in good faith with the barrel of the gun basically faced at you. 100,000, 130,000 more forces in the hinter land, reserves, national guard, russian troops now in belarus and activity in the black sea and now we're trying to negotiate in good faith and we must because that's the only way we're going to work our way out of it and it's really dangerous. this is not now just about russia, ukraine, the west, nato, the u.s. this is a global issue. one data point i would say out there that is a wrinkle here, and i know you talked of it, in five days president vladimir putin is scheduled to be sitting in beijing for the opening of their olympics on the 4th of february. even with the good partnership they have with china, i think that jinping, a war opening in europe that woul

nic robertson and sam kiley, thank you very much. >>> kazakhstan's president is calling the recent violence an attempted coup. order has been resolved. at least 150 people are dead and nearly 8,000 others are being detained after the crackdown and protests. it expanded to anger as government corruption, poverty and unemployment. >>> a court in myanmar has sentenced aung san suu kyi to four years in prison on several charges including smuggling walkie-talkies. she's on trial for instances of more than 100 years. in december she was sentenced to four years on charges of incitement and breaking covid-19 rules. that sentence was later reduced to two years. she has denied all charges. >>> now an ambitious goal for chinese authorities as they work to test the entire population of a large city for coronavirus. we've got the latest in a live report straight ahead. symptoms, hift to fr get your zzz's... and get back to your rhythm. ♪ the relief you need. the cash you want. blendjet's holiday sale is on now for the #1 gift this holiday season, the blendjet 2 portable blender. it packs the power of

cnn's sam kiley live in ukraine's capcapital, kyiv. the president is speaking with president biden this afternoon. what have you learned? >> reporter: well, he will be endorsing this nato and u.s. bilateral letter because it sets in writing what had been said in public verbally which is just as nic was saying there that nato is a sovereign nation, rather, nato is a multilateral organization that does not exclude membership and certainly does not allow other nations to impinge on people's sovereignty, other nation's sovereignty when it comes to joining nato. this will be a phone call between the ukrainian president and joe biden that is one of thanks and congratulations, i suspect, and puts a line under, i think, that slip that biden made about a week ago when he indicated that there may be some lesser response if there was a minor incursion by russia into ukrainian territory. that's now been put aside entirely and there is unanimity in the western international community that if there is any kind of invasion, any kind of move by moscow

cnn's sam kiley is standing by for us at this hour live in kyiv. sam, what is the disagreement right now? >> reporter: the disagreement is the one they've been having in public apparently now they've had in private. over the phone which is the pace or imminence or otherwise of the threat being posed by this russian build-up, not just on ukraine or close to ukraine's borders but also now in russia and belarus and the u.s. assessment is the threat is imminent, talking to matthew chance here in kyiv from the president's office here could be a threat to kyiv. made it very clear that the analysis of his people is that there isn't an imminent threat. does need support, does also say if there is an invasion, it could suck in other european countries. saying things could get bad when they get really bad but really also saying that the a detrimental effect causing capital flight and that is unhelpful at a time when he's trying to stabilize the ukrainian economy of what may be a conflict and that may play into the hybrid warfare to weaken economy ahead of in

nic robertson for us in brussels, sam kiley in kiev, thank you to you both. >>> well, life is about to get more expensive for certain canadians who refuse the covid vaccine. or as quebec puts it, the unvaccinated have a way to contribute to overwhelmed hospitals. we'll explain. >>> plus, the new poll has boris johnson going from bad to worse. the latest fallout from his party gate scandal just ahead. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. do you struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep? qunol sleep formula combines 5 key nutrients that can help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep longer, and wake up refreshed. the brand i trust is qunol. when they're sick, they get comfortable anywhere and spread germs everywhere. wherever they rest protection nothing kills more viruses, including the covid-19 virus, on more surfaces than lysol disinfectant spray. lysol. what it takes to protect. >>> welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm isa soares. if you're just joining us, let me bring y

. >> cnn's sam kiley, who was doing that interview, joins us from kiev. sam, we understand there is a cyberattack underway against the ukrainian government. what is happening there right now? >> reporter: it's been a pretty widespread denial of service attack. not the sort of thing that the russian state necessarily would sponsor, although it would be very much at the low end of its capabilities. this is much more about hacking into websites, a number of government websites, but not all of them. some of the critical websites were crashed or taken off line by the government following a series of attacks attributed to a separatist group backed by russia in the region. that's the region of eastern ukraine already under russian occupation taken in 2014 when they also illegally annexed the crimean peninsula. it's something that's troublesome, indicative, perhaps, of the needling efforts that russia have been conducting, but nothing close to the threatened invasion which is what the ukrainian authorities are worried about, laura. >> sam, thank you for that. >>>

we start with sam kiley in kyiv. >> reporter: the foreign minister said it will be up to russia to make further concessions. this follows letters, written positions both from nato and the united states insisting to the kremlin that there will be no negotiation on the opportunity or not of ukraine joining nato. effectively putting in writing what has been said out loud now for many, many weeks. but on top of that, there continues to be a buildup of russian forces on or near the ukrainian border and continued statements coming out of the government here to remain calm but also prepare for the worst. >> reporter: i'm nic robertson in moscow where the kremlin conforms president putin has read the written response from the united states. the kremlin considering their response in whether or not they will make it public. it could come in the next couple of days. not today, they say. their response, however, likely with disappointment. the spokesman saying it doesn't seem to address or take into account russia's core concerns. >> and this just in moments ago in munich, germany. the archbishop h

our senior correspondent sam kiley is in the ukrainian capital of kyiv and diplomatic editor nic robertson in moscow. jim, let's start with you. what are you learning about this phone call? >> reporter: well right now the white house onnior ukrainian of quoted by our colleagues. this is an on the record statement from emily horn, spokesperson for the national security council saying anonymous sources are leaking falsehoods. president biden said there is a distinct possibility that the russians could invade ukraine in february. he's said this publicly and we've been warning about this for months. reports of anything more or different from that are completely false. so an usually straightforward statement here. not disputing sort of the characterization, but straight out saying that characterization of a difficult phone call that somehow went off the rails is straight up false in the words of white house. as you said, wolf, the description from a senior ukrainian official to our colleague matthew chance have been that the president used phrasing along the lines of prepare for impact and in a

. >> reporter: i'm sam kiley in abu dhabi, where the authorities promised a swift response to the killing of three civilians here in the emirati capital. one pakistanian and two indians were killed in a drone attack of some kind out of northern yemen. in the last 12 to 15 hours, the authorities have, indeed, made good on the swift retaliation promise, with the saudi-led coalition conducting air strikes in and around the houthi headquarters in the yemeni capital in the north of the country, with at least 12 civilians reported to be killed. this is a claim we have not opibeen able to verify from the houthis. they claim among the dead are women and children. >> reporter: i'm blake essex in tokyo. it's been more than three days since an underwater volcano erupted off the coast of tonga. while we haven't received reports of mass casualties, the reality is we still don't know the extent of the damage, especially for those outlining islands close to the eruption site. it's because communication with anyone in tonga remains extremely limited. ashfall left runways unusable, preventing outside aid