missile defenses. >> i would agree. under my narrative, we've always for almost 30 years, three and four administrations, tried to get through negotiations, a handle on the threat. i would think this is the kind of issue we ought to pursue strategic dialogue administration started with russia and the strategic dialogue jake sullivan suggested beginning to be discussed so we are in agreement. of course we ought to try to see if we can get negotiated limits on those but ballistic missile defense capability is a hedge against those efforts. >> where want to turn to questions in a minute but picking up a little bit on the clues in your discussion now in russia particular about the whole conversation may have been different if we can imagine the u.s. never withdrawn from the treaty trying to focus limited activity on missile defense in the confines of the complex you could have, how might this be different? maybe not different at all, or may be quite different. >> i think he's right, efforts over multiple a

homeland defenses and should the u.s. penetrate defenses and how? >> i don't think that the chinese nuclear expansion is driven by the desire to penetrate u.s. ballistic missile defenses. i think the projections are that they would have a thousand strategic nuclear war heads by 2030. that estimate is up from about 400 of just a year ago. why are they doing this? i think they are doing this because we have seen across the board a change in policy by xi jinping. china is asserting itself. it clearly believes it should be a dominant if not the dominant power in the decades ahead. and having a strategic nuclear program comparable to that in the united states and russia is i think part of that agenda. that's clearly where he's heading. and the capability they are developing is -- is -- could overwhelm any ballistic missile defense capabilities. we haven't -- could overwhelm any ballistic missile defense capabilities we have and i think the chinese and the russians know that. we are already in the business of deploying defenses to counter those missiles a

i here said that's territorial defense . but sally and so for ukraine, those who are affiliated with the neo nazi ideology, and i believe they have now in circle the city of marine apple, which is in the south of the country. and there preventing local residents from leaving that sound from evacuating. thus making a human shield out of them. now edward, missouri and the representative of the people's militia, along with the head of the dentist peoples republic, called on the ukrainian army soldiers to lay down their arms and said that those who leave their weapons behind will be provided to humanitarian court and can leave. and can go home and amnesty will be provided for all the time. oh, i'm not in the video was our film by our crew on the front line in the gwinnett square public where heavy shutting as we understand continues, is pretty difficult to make out in the pictures, frankly. but russia's defense ministry says ukrainian force is a fire at the don bass city. as the head of the republics recently said that both side

and ukraine's right to self-defense. russia is using force to try to rewrite history and deny ukraine it's free and independent life. nato's core task is to protect and defend allies. there should be no room for miscalculation or misunderstanding. an attack on one will be regarded as an attack on all. this is our collective security guarantee. today, the north atlantic council decided to activate our defense plans. at the request of top military commander -- at the request of the top military commander. this is a step to protect and shield other nations during this crisis. it will enable us to deploy capabilities and forces, including the nato response force to where they are needed. in response to russia's massive military buildup, we are already strengthening our collective defense on land, at sea, and in the air. in the last weeks, allies from north america and europe have deployed thousands of more troops to the eastern part of the area and place more troops on standby. we have over 100 jets at high alert, protecting

we have a defensive presence in the east. we are increasing our presence not to provoke a conflict, but to prevent a conflict. as long as there is no doubt about nato's readiness to protect and defend allies and our commitment to the core message, the core task of nato, one for all, all for one, an attack on one ally will be regarded as an attack on all, then no ally would be attacked. and that would prevent the conflict. and that would preserve peace for nato allies. that is the reason we communicate so clearly and the reason we are deploying troops in the eastern part of the alliance. to make sure there is no possibility, our readiness to protect and defend our allies. this is to preserve peace, to prevent an attack, and to prevent the war which is going on in ukraine spill over to any nato-allied country. that was the message from nato leaders today, and that was also the message when i met with many of them in the g7 yesterday, and that is also, of course, message when we speak to close partners, sweden, finland, and the

but nevertheless, from what we have seen, and the ministry of defense, russian ministry of defense is made very clear. they came up a, came up with a statement early on saying precision strikes and we have seen caliber missiles in there, very is videos at flying over ukraine film by people. it was who with mobile phones are where they have said that they use it. precision strikes to disable enemy air fields. aw, ukrainian airfields, military installations, infrastructure as well as me anti missa, i sorry, anti air defenses. and does to take out assets belonging to the ukranian animals. and we have seen plenty of videos confirming that as, as the statement holds, we're able to have the euclidean official come out and say that it isn't in putin's interest to, to, to stage of massacre because the russians, he said, want public support in ukraine. so it's a certainly very difficult to judge at this point, but the, but a russian president has just come up and said that zelinski knew that there was going to be this operation that he had a chance that the speak to negotiate and, and he refus

could you talk a little bit more about the activation or the defense plans? what exactly does this change? and when was the last time this was done? thank you. these plans or plans for our developed over the years or to make sure that we have plans in place to react to crisis like the crisis we are faced with now on the they are defensive plans. they are the prudent plans on there are plans of course, and the all east of our lines from the, from the buyer and see down to the mediterranean on the and they give an hour, a mentor. this is so more at fault. it is within politically to find a guidelines on the, on the, on the, on the frameworks or to deploy forces where they deem it needed. and that's exactly what we have agreed today. so these again are defensive plants and showing that we have forces at the sufficient redness at the right place for throughout europe. haven activate or have they ever been activated before? oh, so i don't know whether it's right for me to answered up questions because i don't know whether it has been made public before. so i own w

we argue for the increase of the defense budget for the ministry of national defense. we understand it matters to taiwan's survival. therefore, it is not just the minister of defense himself who is very keen in increasing our investment in the military, it is a whole of government approach to increase our capability so taiwan is able to defend itself. and the increase of our budget, we need to spend in a very smart way, making investment in the defensive articles that will make a difference and also making investment and isometric capabilities so that china understands it will pay a very heavy price if they initiate a conflict against taiwan. we are also engaging in civil defense reform. the government has instituted an all-out mobilization agency underneath the ministry of national defense. we want the people here in taiwan to be able to defend themselves if china is going to lodge a war against taiwan. these are what we tried to do. and the support of the united states, or exchanges or draining or sharing of intelligence are also very important and we are very glad t

higher defense number, lower nondiscretionary defense account. pay raise, obviously the pay raise that we're anticipating is really a down payment on inflation, because let's face it, we're not keeping pace with inflation, with a 7% inflation rate and rising. we may end up with 8 to 10% inflation in the next year according to some economists. so let me get to what's happening to our defense spending. it's no secret, this hearing is obviously at an unclassified level. it's broadcast on the internet. there's no doubt that our enemies are watching at the present time. while we are frozen, unable to properly provide for our nation's defense, our adversaries are planning to react accordingly. admiral, please give this committee your assessment of probable chinese activity regarding taiwan over the next year and what an invasion of the island would mean for america and its allies. >> ranking member calvert, thank you. so i mentioned up front in my comments that what the cr does, what the cr yields for the nation is a smaller, less ready, less capable,

we are committed to the defense of our allies. reporter: when president biden previewed this last week. he said he would be sending forces in the near term. do you consider 3000 not a lot? how does 1000 troops -- infantry troops stop the kind of force you been describing that russia has been massing in western russia and belarus? mr. kirby: we think that these orders that the secretary is giving today are very much in keeping with the president's confidence. to your other question, i remind that we hold the option open of additional force movements if that is desired and needed. the steps i'm talking about today could very well be preliminary steps to future ones we might take. to your other question, is that enough? i think it is worth reminding that romania is a sovereign state has their own military and a capable one at that. it is not just the united states sending a stricker squadron, the french are going to be sending additional troops. i will not speak to what they are going to do -- i will let them speak to what they are g

but we need right now defensive weapons. thank you for germany -- germany in the last couple of years to review infrastructure, to make reform. but at this critical station, we --. [indiscernible] already to fight. we are ready to defend our families, our state, our citizens, our citizens. we need support. thank you for 5000 pounds, but they are not enough. we can't defend our country just with that. and also, very important point from back to 1996, budapest agreement, ukraine in 1996 worked out countries in the world with largest nuclear weapons. we give our nuclear weapons with a guarantee, united states, french, great britain, and russia make a guarantee of our independency and territorial integrity. it's not so much time in the past. right now what about the budapest agreement? everybody forget about it. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. >> you have already responded to the question of delivery of weapons. maybe antony would like to say a few words. mr. blinken: mr. mayor, good to see you. i appreciate not on

they are going to ensure the robust defense of our nato allies. now, let me lay this out for you in a series of three steps. first, 1,000 soldiers that are currently based in germany will reposition to romania in the coming days. now, this is a striker squadron. a mounted cavalry unit that's designed to deploy in short order and to move quickly once in place. and they will augment the sum of 900 u.s. forces that are currently in romania. now, this force is designed to deter aggression and enhance our defensive capabilities in frontline allied states. and we expect them, as i said, to move in coming days. secretary austin discussed this repositioning to romania just last week in his conversation with the romanian minister of defense. and again, i want to stress that this move is coming at the express invitation of the romanian government. additionally, we welcome french president macron's announcement that france intends to deploy forces to romania, under nato command, which secretary austin discussed with the french defense minister, florence parl

according to the russian defense ministry. that comes after the kremlin started a miniature operation, which it says is aimed at defending the don bass from ukrainian aggression. russian armed forces have destroy day to 3 ukrainian military targets. the defense ministry added that no civilian areas with targets it. the strikes were aimed only at military infrastructure and also that safe exit routes for ukrainian soldiers have been arranged. r t that senior correspondent rod goes, dia, reports from the guns republic. i was thou, that hasn't been a any exclusions, and the gods sca oh, in the suburbs in the outskirts of the city as we had seen in previous days with, with constant shelling between the 2 sides. so shelling from the ukrainian side and from the self proclaimed all as the now recognized republic of lugens. nevertheless, the operation, the offensive that they have launched this morning following, following a very sustained, very loud and very sustained artillery. shelly campaign this morning as the the operation they

so we have prepared a new bill, the so called homeland defense bill or homes defense act. i need to include a mechanism that allows for even bigger financing of them under lays ation of polish armed forces and the equipment of potion forces. and we already have the secretary. i have talked about the fact that through building this interoperability for equipping and the potion forces with the most modern equipment in this way, we can increase the defense capabilities of the entire eastern flan complaint because the security of bowen's means the security of the entire eastern flank of natal, i'm also very grateful to the secretary for the development of the 5th corps, which is currently in the ones we talked also about this topic. this is undoubtedly a very important element of deterrence in terms of whether or not we intend to the boy or so. again, i would just say that you know, everything that we do, we will consult with nato in our allies and partners to make sure that, that fully coordinated in any steps that we take going forward. and finally, i would reiterate that we

and most recently, of course, the russian president himself, the defense ministry, the, the defense minister, the foreign minister. what do you think the impacts of those sanctions will be? well, it could be the sanctions, the personal sanctions on, on business personalities and, and the political leadership of russia will have to see that the, the possibility of the, the swift being sanction from the swift transaction for national banks. that would have huge ramifications that would hurt everybody, frankly. so we'll have to see whether it's a symbolic, i think the us wants to inflict maximum pain, but it's is constrained because they realize that they're going to be there's going to be a lot of pain felt in europe and, and ultimately in the us as well. so it's widely seen as a nuclear option is the exclusion from the swift banking system. so the things that we kept off the table for now, then, well, i haven't heard the latest, but i do know that in the last year, russia has announced that they are prepared to move out of their prepared to leave the system. so there have been preparations un

civilians in lieu gun sca, according to the russian defense ministry. a residential areas came under heavy rocket fire with a number of people killed. i guess we're going to have to get on to confirm all these details. we do have a correspondence in don bass. his romance closer f brush in defense, ministry report starts the ukranian nationalist forces use multiple rocket launching systems against the city of our bill, skin, logan screech, and currently under control of ukraine. and now they're calling in. it's a provocation, and the russian defense ministry said that they are aware of similar plans against the other cities of the donors kilograms, people's republics that are still current under a ukrainian control who are fighting is taking place. so this a series of cromwell tours can slide. it could also be targeted in these provocations by ukranian nationalists to the head of the people's republic of the nist. denise push it in also war and that's the intelligence shows that these cities could be targets of the ukranian nationalists force. and he war

would come to nato's defense. but you even her from the defense secretary is a really important bridge not to cross. that is, if you send troops in and that further aggravate atpollutant and does that raise the risk that he will then take a move on ukraine? there's a lot of diplomacy going on as you know an hour and a half from around the u.s. and security council will meet to discuss this. and russia will have a seat at that table. it is a question of how does everyonene dance around this in a way to avoid war? >> as far as the timetables are concerned, you talk about the troops been called up. is there a timetable as far as the deployment is concerned or discussion of one? what's the 80 airborne fort bragg, spent very cautious is not named units. or we should say specific use but the 82nd airborne has been relied upon again and again to go in quickly. it can actually go in this units within their the immediate response force that can respond within 18 hours a been called up. they could get over there very quickl

we argue for the increase of the defense budget for the ministry of national defense. we understand it matters to taiwan's survival and therefore, it is not just the minister of defense himself who is keen on increasing our military, it is the whole government approach to increase our capability so that taiwan is able to defend itself. in the increase of our budget we also need to spend money in a very smart way. making investments in the defensive articles that will make a difference. and also making investments in isometric capabilities so china understands they will pay a heavy price if they initiate conflict against taiwan. we are also engaging in a civil defense reform. the government has instituted an all-out mobilization agency underneath the ministry of national defense. we want the people here in taiwan to be able to defend themselves if china is going to launch a war against taiwan. these are what we tried to do. the support of the united states or exchanges or training or sharing of intelligence also very important. we are very glad the united states has bee

biden: does the defense department? >> india is one of your major defense partners. is india fully in sync with the united states on russia? pres. biden: we are in consultation with india today. we have not resolved that completely. thank you very much. [shouting over each other] >> are you sanctioning president putin? [camera shutters] >> 10 minutes after 5:00 here

the ministry of defense. their website is down as well as the website of one of ukraine's largest commercial banks. this is, we are being told, what appears to be what's known as a ddos attack. that's a denial of service attack when attackers make it impossible for folks like you and me to access those websites. for the time being, and, of course, we're just learning this so a lot still to come out. for the time being it appears to be the forward facing, public facing parts of this bank and of the ministry of defense. we don't know whether there's any damage beyond that. for example, whether there would be any military communications, for example, that would have been affected. right now it means that people cannot access at least these two websites. john, this is obviously something we're keeping a very close eye on. when we talk about the potential for russia to cause mischief to invade ukraine, it's not just from a military standpoint. we talk about hybrid warfare. russia can attack on a number of differen

so the ukranian air defenses are working. there may not be intensive, but they were working overnight. you could hear the outgoing a lot during the night and the thump of distant artillery, the crashes are of missiles hitting military targets on the outskirts of the city. but what we're finding now, as, as all the armory gets closer, is they're getting into civilian areas and the civilian casualty rate is going to increase. there's no doubt about it. i'm only talking about the capital here. remember, just about every big city in ukraine is under attack hoc heave was having a terrible time of its are all the way through thursday, people in a desperate states and people in queues to donate blood at medical points. and here right now, well, the mood is, is not just sullen, but pretty desperate. this is a view back on the past 24 hours. ah, the russian invasion was lost with terrifying speed and against a wide range of targets. right across the country. alone, military build up around it. cranes, borders finally unleashed fight h

rogers defense ministries as ukrainian for to the following. it said he's in and on bus ukraine though, says russia is carried out more than $200.00 attacks from the south of the day in the region. well, let's confirm that a series of powerful explosions were reported across ukraine. this morning. loud blas rocked several cities off the rush, launched a circle. special operation is being reported. the explosions were caused by miss all strikes from russian forces. we've just received these images from murray poll . fix, smoke can be seen by living across the sky. you can see a diamond ukranian radar system throughout the day. powerful explosions have been reported throughout the country. where here you can see a map of the genetic lugens, the people's republic. the 2 regions announced their independence from kiev shortly after the 2040 mile and revolution. and have his claimed been repeatedly shelled, ever since that's led to numerous civilian casualties. now both republic say they will liberate their territories still on the key of control. so

nato has helped them with the defensive -- defenses. we have also helped them with trust funds and different activities. take -- on top of that, different measures to help them to sanction the naval forces and armed forces. on top of what nato has done, it has also -- including defensive weapons and supported training. it'll be a decision to continue to support. that is for individual nato allies to provide. deconfliction is extremely important to us. we will continue to reach out to them to make sure we can do everything we can. >> yes. what is the message to the countries like finland and sweden about the situation? thank you. >> finland and sweden are very close art nurse. -- finland and sweden are very close partners. even they -- though they do not apply for a membership now, they strongly believe that the nato will not form any type of agreement with russia, based on what russia has proposed to us to sign a legally bound agreement on any enlargement of nato in the future. i think that the sweden and the finland them, it is a quest

those are for civilian defense, right. so, when you hear things like that you are supposed to go to bomb shelters. in kyiv, that means metro stations for instance or places like that. again, i am not a general -- although, i do talk to them pretty much every day. still in the early phases where they are trying to wipe out ukraine's military defenses. remember what putin said a couple of hours ago, he said we are going to demilitarize ukraine. and then they are going to the not suffocation. so, i think we're in the early phases where they are still attacking military targets. i don't want to second guess but mr. putin's gonna do next. that we know he is doing now and my twitter feed, my social media and we are looking at right now. it's all about people from all over the country, not in the far west, but people that i'm hearing from. some people are not under attack right now, but the rest in the major cities people are hearing attacks preparing for further attacks. >> ambassador, thank you. we are going to keep you close.

new york and other states to strengthen cyber defense. we made great advances. we are going to have to be strong, tough and vigilant. who knows what the heck putin will do, but we have to be able to fight back on defense and offense." more reaction from congressional leadership earlier today, adam schiff called for additional sanctions on russia and aid to ukraine, while briefing reporters at the u.s. capitol. his remarks are about 10 minutes. rep. schiff: you also need to sanction russia for this act of aggression placed by the kremlin dictator. we need to move to sanction the largest banks in russia, cut off russia from the international financing system and its ability to access western capital. we need to attack its ability to gather sophisticated technology for its weapon systems, we out to go after more of its oligarchs, and we need to continue to strengthen our nato defenses in the region of protect nato allies. this is a terrible tragedy for the people of ukraine. i think it is the result of a kremlin dictator, terrified of the de

there are claims this is ukrainian air defenses shooting down a russian aircraft. the biden administration has stressed that no american troops are going to fight in ukraine, ukraine is not a nato member and therefore not bound to the treaty that says an attack on one is an attack on all three members. the pentagon is sending thousands of u.s. troops to the region to bolster the natal block. they are heading first to germany, their next destination is unknown. nato says it's trying to avoid a larger war. >> we are increasing our presence in the eastern part of the alliance but what we do his defensive, is measured, and we don't seek confrontation. we want to prevent the conflict. >> kyiv mayor of said the russian president has lost reality and is prepared to fight against the invasion. he and his brother are former boxers, world heavyweight champion boxers as ukrainians across the country are taking up arms in the face of overwhelming russian firepower. >> shannon: those two brothers are very interesting. key figures in this whole thing as it's going on. we see peo

biden: does the defense department? >> india is one of your major defense partners. is india fully in sync with the united states on russia? pres. biden: we are in consultation with india today. we have not resolved that completely. thank you very much. >> ukraine, while briefing reporters at the u.s. capitol. his remarks are about 10 minutes.

and that's as the russian defense ministry denied such claims. this time a few dozen minutes later ukraine had to admit that the thing, the objects that they shot in the night sky was a caliber cruise mess style, right? so this is again, this is a very popular type of 100, even they targeting some military infrastructure. exactly because ministry is that exactly? absolutely. because the russian defense ministry has been saying that they are strictly targeting military infrastructure, saying that they destroy dozens of fields. just military base is a, you know, ad defense locations and so on and so forth. and this has been echoed by the ukrainian officials as well. for example, in advisor to be ukranian. president said what he was when was talking about what to expect of the 2. he did mention an extensive but compartment of the key of, of the ukrainian capital. but he also said that civilians shouldn't be afraid, as they will not be targeted. basically, he expressed his assurance that civilians will not be affected by this well, extensive bombardm

defensive steps that we are taking to shore up the defenses of our partner ukraine. steps that we are taking to deter a russian invasion or renewed russian aggression against ukraine. some of that is consistent with the defensive steps that we've taken. some of that lies in the fact that we have been very clear, not only the united states, but our european allies and others, about the massive costs, economic, financial and otherwise, that would befall the russian federation if an invasion, renewed aggression, were to go forward. you've already seen manifestations of those costs even in advance of the imposition of any new soorntion authorities on the russian federation. we've talked about this before. but the russian stock market has declined significantly. the value of the ruble has declined significantly. markets are growing increasingly pessimistic about the implications of the sanctions and economic measures we have talked about were they to go forward. so that, i think is a review of what would -- what would transpire were these measures to be fully put into pla

and ukraine's right to self-defense. russia is using force to try to rewrite history and deny ukraine is free and independent power. nato's core task is to protect and defend all allies. there must be no room for miscalculation or misunderstanding. an attack on one will be regarded as an attack on all. this is our collective security guarantee today, the north -- security guarantee. today, the north atlantic council decided to activate our defense plans. at the request of top military commander -- at the request of the top military commander. this is a step to protect and shield other nations during this crisis. and it will enable us to deploy capabilities and forces, including the nato response force to where they are needed. in response to russia's massive military buildup, we are already strengthening our collective defense on land, at sea, and in the air. in the last weeks, allies from north america and europe have deployed thousands of more troops to the eastern part of the lines and placed more on standby. we have

a here right now is the announcement from the russian defense ministry. or the russian troops, as always, will return to their permanent bases. as soon as their combat training activities are completed, the units of the southern and western military districts, which have now completed their tasks, have already begun loading equipment on to trains. these will move to the garrisons today, individual units will return on their own. i crossing like not to correspond, danny armstrong down there right there on a red square with us and battles and the kremlin behind him. danny, this is big news. the west has been creating a panic over a supposed imminent russian invasion of ukraine. but what we're seeing right now, greats of bit with that, doesn't as absolutely right, rory, as you just heads as the chief spokesperson for rushes, defense ministry, eager can a shanker of saying that all russian troops, military personnel, but we will be returning to their garrisons from the southern in question, a military districts. this of course, is a diplomatic answer from rus

so there's a strong, very strong defense relationship between the 2. but coming in contact because of attentional invasion by russia, ukraine, it clearly is, it has an added emphasis of trying to communicate to russia, as well as reassure paul's that the us will support them in any conflict with russia. while we appreciate you breaking down for us, what is quite a complex story that's richard width a defense analyst out of washington, d. c. thanks for being on the program. so let's just recap that breaking news out of eastern ukraine. rushing back separatists later has an evacuation of civilians to russia if follows arising shelling in the break way region of dumbass, announcing the move on social media. dennis push and off the don't yet, the people's republic says russia has agreed to provide a combination for people leaving with women and children and the elderly to be evacuated. first, child stratford is covering this story out of novice. he loves car, which is in south eastern ukraine, childs what elsie hearing about the latest news from that regio

so launchers, more defensive, a ballistic missile defense systems see mine. and i'll always like that where taiwan can kind of get defensive capacity on the cheap. and in addition to that as well, there is something to be said about finding ways to boost one's own reserve forces . and just at the end of last year, a tile on what's going ahead in terms of, of doing reform to his reform. there is there for the structure. so asked, is there a park part of that music pack capacity in the civilian everyday economy? so as to keep them with a stable defense minister to court chang last year said in october, that tensions with china out there was in for decades. this type a, c, these are getting worse this year. what i pay, i certainly believe that is alum. one need to take it even more seriously than you has to you had in the past. i'll say that in terms of actual degree of threat assessment, taiwan is largely alert, but not alarmed at the moment. the primary reason being that in order for china to launch a successful invasion of high one, china steel has a long way

can you tell us more about the meeting with the defense minister from georgia? we are also awaiting exercises in march. the second point, mr. zelensky said today ukraine needs welcome to nato yet all not all members of the alliance, how would you respond to that? thank you so much for. >> we had a good meeting with the both the defense minister from georgia and ukraine. i think in that meeting allies is strong support to both countries.ts it provides support to georgia and ukraine and different ways. when brought training past the building will be nothing later on this year. ofof a part of that exercise weo together and it demonstrates been away how we are workingin closely together. the black sea region is of strategic importance for nato. what happens there we are in the states that nato allies and we have there are two very close partners georgia and ukraine. so to work closely with them isu important for us and important for the partners and that was also clearly confirmed today. >> we and our position is not changed. nothe decisions made are still advanced

and the defense ministry, the ukrainian defense ministry, has said that they want civilians there to stay indoors and prepare molotov cocktails for possibly fighting ah, fighting those russian forces as they come in. if the ukrainian military is not strong enough to do it on their own. now of course, then we have the east, this is where most ukrainian forces are because they've been fighting this insurgency, this rebel area, they've been fighting that since 2014. that's where most ukrainian forces are. and that's where we see in at least 3 different major points. russian forces coming in from the east and also from the south from crimea. as i said, that we're that in russian naval base is. and we've been seeing amphibious landings reports of that from maria pull and even odessa, key strategic locations on ukraine's black sea coast. now one possibility here, one of the biggest fear is, is if the troops in the south and the east can link up, they may be able to cut off the ukrainian forces in the east, get them trapped there. so they wouldn't be able to help in the fight in points for

so you defense ministers are also convey convening to day walker. we expect her so now it's about the logistics of this, right. i've talked about this for 150000000000 years. that's been set aside. and it doesn't mean that the european unit is suddenly going on a shopping spree to buy all this equipment. no, because this is the kind of stuff that you make orders for and it takes months or for delivery. so what they're going to do is they're going to give the ukrainian armed forces from what is already in the e u struck by that. i mean, what do individual member countries have? so for example, some states i have loads of anti tank missiles at this, her fighter jets and others not. so they're going to be coordinating who's got what and how then to send that off. of course, to the ukranian, a military that has to happen soon in the coming days, as you can understand, the situation on the ground as it is unfolding. and this has to happen sooner rather than later. so it is expected that the defense ministers will now be coordinating the logistics of that

p in future for defense. and i forgot the and, and the weapons weapon delivery, which was a, to boot in german politics for the last centuries. okay, let's just listen to, i mean, the german liter. all i shall say we're referring to here has in some courses, have been accused of not appearing to be fully engaged in facing up to the challenge posed by vladimir putin. now, surely, given what melt has been saying and what we're about to hear that can no longer quite apply. let's listen to all our shelton. his own words. 14 but, and was imperial. a futon wants to create a russian empire, and he wants to reconfigure europe according to his own ideas. and he does not hesitate to use military violence into what we see this to day in ukraine. so we must ask ourselves what capabilities putin's russia has. and what capabilities do we need to meet this threat to day and in the future? later on in that so called emerson douglas mia? and that we must invest more in the security of our country to defend our freedom and dem

that's according to the russian defense ministry. this comes off the kremlin, started a so called military operation, which it claims is aimed at defending the don't boss from ukraine in aggression. russian armed forces have destroyed 83 ukrainian military target. the defense ministry out of that no civilian areas were targeted on the strikes were aimed only at military infrastructure and also that safe exit routes. the equating soldiers have been arranged. artie correspondent was garcia reports from the guns republic i was thou that hasn't been a any exclusions and the gods sca oh, in the suburbs in the outskirts of the city as we had seen in previous days with, with constant shelling between the 2 sides. so shelling from the ukrainian side and from the self proclaimed all as the now recognized republic of lugens. nevertheless, the operation, the offensive that they have launched this morning following, following a very sustained, very loud and very sustained artillery. shelly campaign this morning as the the operation they say is p

gdp in our defense >> the move is supporting defense sector trade with key stocks higher. you have gaining nearly 30%. a major gain an s across the spe let's get out to anetta to talk us through what many are calling historic u-turn from germany the reason is this represents abandonment from the german military restraint that has been in place since world war ii. it be an inflation point with the world order. talk about the moment about the historical perspective and what it means for european defense spending moving forward. >> reporter: it is historic moment i think yesterday's speech in front of parliament, olof scholz had an historic speech as a huge u-turn of the defense policy since world war tii he want to see ukraine's military be one of the strongest and best equipped in europe. that means an overhaul ever since world war ii and since the beginning of the merkel era after the fall of the soviet union. in the '80s, to give you an idea of how much our military has been shrinking, in the '80s, there were 3,500 tanks in the military right now, 300 no way we could conf

ukraine's defense ministry and two ukrainian banks have been hit by a cyberattack. this was the warning from the white house press secretary. >> as i said yesterday, we have been warning for months, publicly and privately with ukrainians and europeans at the potential for pressure to conduct cyber operations in ukraine is part of their playbook. so we are concerned, and we do not have anything new in terms of specifics. >> russia remains adamant it is not losing any threat to ukraine. here is the russian deputy ambassador to thunited nations. >> president zelensky mentioned that that was similar placement of troops a year ago and it there was no hysteria about it. this is our territory and our troops. when you say placement of troops at the border, it does not mean they are standing at the border. they are in their bases. sometimes the number of troops increases or decreases, this is normal for every country, not just russia. why the hysteria? this is artificial hype. and the problem should de-escalate. >> despite this, the push for a diplomatic solution to the cris

nato has helped them with the defensive -- defenses. on top of that, different measures to help them to sanction the naval forces and armed forces. on top of what nato has done, it has also -- including defensive weapons and supported training. it'll be a decision to continue to support. let us as -- that is what -- that is for individual nato allies to provide. we will continue to reach out to them to make sure we can do everything we can. >> yes. this. what is the message to the countries like finland and sweden about the situation? thank you. >> finland and sweden are very close art nurse. -- very close partners. even they -- though they do not apply for a membership now, they strongly believe that the nato will not form any type of agreement with russia, based on what russia has proposed to us to sign a legally bound agreement on any enlargement of nato in the future. i think that the sweden and the finland them, it is a question of self-determination. then potentially in the future, also to apply for nato membership. for me, the ve

and ukraine's right to self-defense. russia is using force to try to rewrite history and deny ukraine its free and independent power. -- independent path. nato's core task is to protect and defend all allies. there must be no room for miscalculation or misunderstanding. an attack on one will be regarded as an attack on all. this is our collective security guarantee. today, the north atlantic council decided to activate our defense plans. our top military commander. this is a step to protect and shield other nations during this crisis. and it will enable us to deploy capabilities and forces, including the nato response force, to where they are needed. in response to russia's massive military buildup, we are already strengthening our collective defense on land, at sea, and in the air. in the last weeks, allies from north america and europe have deployed thousands of more troops to the eastern part of the lines and placed more on standby. we have over 100 jets at high alert, protecting our airspace. and more than 120 allied

for the defense budget. on top of the fact that germany is now resolved to send weapons to ukraine, it would not be an overstatement to say that this is a tectonic shift in german politics. what else do you make of this? absolutely, actually i spoke to m p. 's. now in the opposition of anglo michael's conservative party, they said we never dared to ask for this. after all, they were in government with the social democrats at the party of olaf. so it's in the past. and during the medical years, this would have been simply inconceivable. and now it's truly happened overnight sparked by the russian aggression in ukraine. also we heard from all of so it's quite clearly calling out vladimir putin saying that in rasa to tolerance, democracy would in the end prevail. and there's a market differentiation between rossa and vladimir putin here and more. the sanctions are targeted against vladimir putin. this is seen as vladimir putin's will, and not russ's war with an appeal to the russian people and to actually stand