Page 157 - Nic News Today

What are we hearing from the nato leaders? >> well, day two of meetings. what weve been hearing so far is very much that as far as nato assessments are concerned, there has been no withdrawal of any significance from russias positions around ukraine. clearly defense ministers gathered here keeping a close eye on that. we expect to hear both from the american defense secretary later this morning and also from the nato secretary general as well with their latest assessment. the last couple of days...

Clarissa ward is in ukraine. nic, i want to ask you first, what do you believe that this move actually indicates? and as you answer that, talk about what you hear. youre on the ground there. youre in russia. does there seem to be a groundswell of support from the russian people for what could be coming? >> there really hasnt been. there really was a feeling that ukraine is too much of a brother nation to go to war with. but the images that have been put out by state media over the past 24, 48, 7...

And that soldier presumably would get $40,000. also saying there will be assurance for the soldiers, presumably he means in a medical context here. so putin really trying to keep the country on board, even while his saying its going on track. the evidence, of course, we see and hear, its not. and, of course, he denied hitting civilian targets again. >> to that point, nic, stand by. i want to get deeper intoes the elements of the putin propaganda machine. they warned extra measures would be taken...

A soviet style propaganda machine that churns kremlin lies. >> translator: the leading american news media under pressure from the government and the empire of lies, as the president says. the aim is to blacken the russian military operation, to demilitarize ukraine and to cast divisions among the people and to scare the ukrainian population. >> nic, you watch this play out every day, the russian propaganda machine. more independent outfits have been shut down because they dare to try to speak t...

Predicament. this pipeline was supposed to supply 50% more gas for germany at a time when people needed it. but that situation will change. this is just part of the plethora of sanctions that were expecting later today. >> nic robertson, were in something of a gray zone now. the u.s., nato have been warning of a full scale invasion of ukraine. we have not seen that yet, though we should remind folks at home that the forces russia has arranged around ukraine they remain, they maintain the capabil...

Be a follow-through result of what he says tonight. but at the moment, russia is prepped and primed for a very big speech by president putin, one that could be momentous. and if it does send troops into ukraine, then, of course, that would define a whole new era between russia, the united states, europe, nato. it will be a dchbtifferent worl he does. >> a whole new era we havent seen since 1945, the end of world war ii. jim sciutto, youve been talking to sources in the american government and go...

Country right now because of vladimir putin. >> and nic, weve heard top u.s. officials warning that a russian tike ukraine could be imminent. theyve been warning it for week. does something give this warning, something like this warning, does it make it different? >> i think it does soec much th putin has now opened up a way to get into the separatist areas. this whole separatists asking for the troops to come in and support them in a battle that is purely of their own construction speaks to tha...

The reason theres so much attention on kharkiv is because of the mass of forces that russia has now amassed close to the border. and a whole heck of a lot of tanks and armor. it is a truly harrowing force that russia has amassed around this country. >> jim sciutto in lviv. thank you. lets bring back nic robertson as well as the global affairs analyst, susan glasser. you heard nics reporting. according to the kremlin, the heads of the pro separatist regions, donetsk and luhansk, have asked for he...

Highest amount that we have seen in some years, at least three years, i believe. we had a cnn team who was out with the interior minister, they came under heavy and sustained artillery fire, they were forced to take shelter and they were pinned down for some time before quickly evacuating the area. weve also seen civilian structures getting hit and shelling happening further back from that front line. so there is a real concern on the ground here that that could quickly escalate out of control. ...

Shift. in light of everything that nic laid out, president putins speech yesterday, the fact that russian forces, according to nato and other sources are already entering the donbas region, those breakaway republics in the far eastern part of the country. everybody senses that this is a major inflection point. and the real fear now becomes, where does it end? president volodymyr zelenskyy spoke today. he said he doesnt believe there will be an all-out war. he also refrained from using the invasi...