major escalation. in sign of that at this point. but there s real concern about what the next step of vladimir putin is, wolf. because it s clear to everyone that the ukrainian military is really under the worst of circumstances would be no match for the russian military, which is so much more powerful, so much more advanced. so the key as you correctly point out, according to u.s. officials, as well, keep the russian troops in crimea, but if they start moving eastward, towards where you are in kiev, that would escalate the situation dramatically. is there a real concern in kiev with the ukrainian government that the russian military might actually move toward the east? there is concern. basically everybody here you talk to has that concern. for them, that obviously is would be the ultimate act of declaration of war. they already see this as a declaration of war. but to move into eastern parts of ukraine.
behalf of russian population and parts of all these countries in the region? so if it s not going to deter putin, what should the u.s., the europeans, the nato allies, really do that might make and say to him, you know what, all right, you re in crimea, you re effectively in control of crimea, and there are a lot of russian ethnic russians they re welcoming those russians, as you know. you have been there. how do you stop him from moving eastward towards key skpef taking over the rest of ukraine? first of all, could i remind you, the reason why the majority of the population of russia because stalin moved them, i know. and slaughtered half of them. and in 1994, in exchange for ukraine getting rid of nuclear weapons, there was a guarantee by russia they would respect their territorial integrity in part of ukraine. because ukraine had nuclear weapons. so putin obviously has no respect for agreements signed by his country. we need to do economic sanctions
and that s you know, the borders of crimea are pretty are very obvious. less so in eastern parts of ukraine. which areas are russian-speaking, which areas are not. so if russian troops were to actually move into eastern ukraine, that would be a major escalation. but that has not occurred yet. and the focus is solely on crimea. it is really interesting, wolf, when you re out there just talking to people how many men are talking about signing up. how many men are talking about being willing to fight, die, keep ukraine together. they see everything that russia has done as a provocation. everything that vladimir putin has said they call lies. the idea that russian people, russian descent, were in any kind of danger in crimea they see as nothing more than an excuse for russian forces to try to flex their muscles in crimea. anderson cooper, reporting from kiev in ukraine right now. he ll be anchoring ac 360 8:00 p.m. eastern. thanks very much.
your repairs are guaranteed for life. so call. to talk with an insurance expert about everything that comes standard with our base auto policy. and if you switch, you could save up to $423. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what s your policy? russian state media reporting of an ultimatum to ukrainian troops saying it s utter rubbish. the defense minister said a russian naval commander warned them to swear allegiance to the new authorities, surrender, or face an attack. what we know right now is about 6,000 russian troops are in control of crimea. the european union is demanding an immediate russian withdrawal. secretary of state john kerry is due in kiev tomorrow. he leaves washington tonight. he has condemned russia s invasion as a, quote, incredible
translator: in hard times, ukraine has left on its own and when russia is allowed to take away crimea, then the world will change and then not only politics and life in ukraine will change, but politics and life will change practically everywhere in the world. and then we have to accept to state that in 21st century, one country, an aggressor, can violate all the international agreements, take away territories wherever she likes. we can t afford this in the world. that s why if the instruments of diplomacy won t work, if all nene negotiations won t work, the world has to apply strongest means. you sound like you are