Page 140 - Nic News Today

Against ukraine, it will be met and it will face very severe consequences. >> lets go live to moscow and cnns international diplomatic editor nic robertson joins me now. nic, it is clear blinken is looking for the diplomatic solution. has president bidens words at the top of the show, has that muddied the waters with nato allies here? >> reporter: well, as fareed was saying, it is a complex situation and president biden is, as fareed outlined, trying to, you know, pick his way through it very ca...

I think thats pretty clear. i think there are also plans considerably smaller in scale, and i think right now diplomacy is still being engaged in by both sides. but theres no question that 100,000 troops with more arriving daily, russian troops to the border including now to belarus for military exercises and the revelation of this intelligence plan all shows that the russians are quite serious that if diplomacy doesnt work some level of escalation is very, very likely indeed. >> right, because,...

Angry. no, this is not how it works. strength, resolve, deterrence. >> one of the indications of perhaps a lack of strength coming from ukraines allies is the united kingdom, united states, germany and australia all ordering -- and canada, all ordering a downsizing of their embassies here sending home nonessential staff, families being allowed to leave, indicating a degree of nervousness among those countries, and this was counteracted, if you like, by president zelensky and many of his minister...

Shipment includes ammunition for the front line defenders of ukraine. the pentagon is also working on new military options should russia invade. and that could include a larger u.s. presence in eastern europe and sources are telling cnn the u.s. embassy in ukraine has requested authorization from the u.s. state department to evacuate all nonessential staff and their families. were covering the developments from all angles as cnns international diplomatic editor nic robertson in moscow, white hou...

Though, i mean at the same time do you see him, essentially, caving in to the pressure? because also at stake for him is of course prestige. theres a lot on the line for him. so if he does pull back, do you actually see that happening? >> no. no, i dont. i think nic is right about this. but i also think a lot of the headlines from the press make it seem as if its either invasion or its withdrawal. and actually the russians have a hell of a lot of options in between. you may remember the russians...

Say they have no intention of invading ukraine. in fact, minister lavrov repeated that to me today. but, again, were looking at what is visible to all, and it is deeds and actions, not words that make the difference. >> reporter: blinken did say that at least there is now a clear path forward. the u.s. will give those written response to russias demands, then theres the possibility that the two will meet. he even opened up the possibility for another meeting between president biden and president...

Moscow. russia sick nalling this morning openness to another meeting between biden and putin. i wonder if they were hearing, nic, a comment from yesterdays press conference from biden that got less attention than maybe it deserved where biden seemed to say that ukraines potential membership in nato is a long time off, right, as perhaps a diplomatic off-ramp here. is that how you heard it? >> reporter: there certainly seems to be something in dmitry peskov, president putins comments today, that c...

There was a meeting to follow through to end the fighting around the dombas region. that was supposed to stop this issue. it is the ukrainians threatening the separatist area. >> all right, nic. thank you so much for that. a lot of moving parts. the united states and european allies are in lock step when it comes to imposing sanctions against russia. the president spoke for 80 minutes with european leaders and afterward projected a message of cooperation. >> i had a very, very, very good meeti...

Something that is unfortunate, not only in ukraine, but there are several nato nations who are already prepared to face russia and it could cause some additional actions that could be troublesome and could contribute to a much greater war. ukraine has already lost 14,000 soldiers over the last seven years. any kind of action by russia going into ukraine is certainly going to have both a military and a humanitarian crisis of extreme proportions. >> so, then, nic, so if youve got the u.s. threaten...

Military hardware. >> nic, thank you for that. natasha, i want to ask you now, what more do we know about the reporting that the u.s. embassy is calling on the state department to authorize evacuations from ukraine. >> reporter: this is news we broke last night that the embassy in kiev has asked the state department for permission, essentially, for authorization to allow nonessential staff in the embassy and their families to evacuate, to head back to the u.s. amid these rising threats from russ...