did partially blame delays in western weapons deliveries for the russia was able to dig in on those southern and eastern front lines eventually thwarting ukraine's attempted counter offensive. but right now, we see a mixture of very fulsome praise for the us and gratitude for having this vote having passed through the house with these calls for increased speed, i don't nbc's meet the press on sunday. he also had this to say this aid will strengthen ukraine and sand when is the permanent powerful signal that it will not be the second afghanistan's, the united states will stay with ukraine, will protect the cranium and they will protect the double attack democracy in the world won't become a second afghanistan, i don't think that is a throwaway comment. >> i think that was designed to get the attention of both the us and russia, given of course,
the alliance. president biden told ukraine's leader he hopes we have to put to bed the notion about whether or not ukraine is welcome at all in nato, saying it is going to happen. he tried to alleviate concerns over weapons deliveries. >> i know many times you are frustrated about when things -- would things get to you quickly and what's getting to you and how we are getting there. i promise you, the united states is doing everything we can to get you what you need as rapidly as we can get it to you. >> i want to thank all americans who understand that it's more than 43 billion for today. it's big support. i understand that this is all your money. you have to know that you spend this money for not just fighting. you spend this money for all lives. >> peter alexander has been traveling with the president. he joins us now from lithuania.
zaporizhzhia as russia claims to be thwarting ukrainian attacks in the south. >> reporter: breaking news on kremlin-controlled tv claiming moscow's forces are facing massive attacks in southern ukraine. >> ukrainian forces attacked with nato tanks and light armored vehicles. our army has fought off these attacks. >> reporter: russia's defense ministry releasing aerial videos hike this one allegedly showing their forces targeting advancing ukrainian formations in the zaporizhzhia reg op. moscow also claims to have taken out a modern western anti-aircraft system close to the front line. on a visit to an arms depot, russia's defense minister urging faster weapons deliveries. the enemy tried to advance today, he says, so this equipment is needed. let's hurry up. while the ukrainians have not confirmed offensive operations and cnn can't independently
french heavy armoured cars, apparently abandoned earlier this week. and overnight, moving pictures emerged of leopard 2 tanks — among the most precious of those western weapons deliveries in action on that key axis. independent researchers have geolocated the footage to these locations a0 miles south—east of zaporizhzhia, and while little the russians say about losses caused to these columns can be taken at face value, the basic facts that they have been committed to the fight and where it's happening appear to be clear now, as indeed evidence of some losses of leopard 2 tanks and american—made personnel carriers. and the images we've seen this week suggest that three of the nine ukrainian nato—trained brigades, the 33rd, 37th, and a7th, are feeding troops into this battle. how do we know this?
♪ ♪ >> breaking news on cr kremlin-controlled tv claiming they're facing massive attacks in ukraine. >> translator: ukrainian forces attacked with nato tanks and light armored vehicle. our army has fought off these attacks. russia's diefense ministry showing their forces targeting advancing ukrainian formation in the zaporizhzhia region. moscow claims to have taken a modern anti-aircraft system close to the front line. on a visit to an arms depot, russia's defense minister ur faster weapons deliveries. >> the enemy tried to advanc equipment is needed. let's hurry up. >> while the ukrainians have not confirmed defensive operations and cnn can't independently verify the specific russian claims, u.s. officials have told cnn the russians are putting up stiff resistance. ukraine's leadership says they
iris tea for example. all those things have been very important. then, of course, the tanks. you have the challenger. the tanks coming through britain. the buffer tanks coming from germany, and of course, finally, the abrams tanks from the united states -- so, each of these has been example of the incremental approach finally being overcome by -- of the battle core. but also these weapons deliveries have been the result of ukrainian successes. once the ukrainians prove that they can hold their own, the u.s. has delivered weapons systems to them of increasing sophistication and capability. >> and you don't worry that it is going to lead to escalation if the -- eventually do make it to ukraine? >> it's always a possibility. and it has to be considered. but there are -- countries on the russian periphery, like poland, for example, and romania, that have f-16s. and the russians have not attacked them. so -- i different issue. but that is one of those risks
so they're ready to go. when exactly it will start of course is secret. but i'm looking forward to what i think the ukrainians are looking forward to it too. >> just a quick follow-up, you say 98% of what they wanted is delivered. i know there are things they want, f-16s and all which are separate. are you saying that everything that they were supposed to get they've gotten? because there are some reports out there, and i'm trying to understand if there's any truth to them, that things have been promised and not delivered and they don't really have a full sort of arsenal. what's the truth? >> look, the truth is that on the ground commanders always want more. and the u.s. is doing careful calculations of exactly what they need. the european commanders specifically general has told us specifically on the armed services committee that 98% of what america believes they need has been delivered. of course those needs could change over time, and we're continuing weapons deliveries as we speak. >> general marks, how difficult, what are the stakes for a
the straits invaded. we do not want to see any type of military conflict. and we also want to see taiwan remain taiwan. and so hearing from the president in terms of what she's asking for on the military preparedness front and also hearing her confidence was deeply important in a private, non—press meeting. she certainly spoke to the press publicly with speaker mccarthy and our meeting laid out a foundation of things on the economic front and on the deterrence front that commit to our shared goals of peace and responsibility. 0k. but specifically on that question of weapons deliveries, because this is something that we understand president tsai had asked for, what can congress do to speed up those deliveries? well, we certainly need to not shut down our government. we need to go through a defence appropriation period in a responsible and reasoned way. if you recall, when russia entered ukraine, we hadn't passed a defence budget.
is making in the united states, because we passed the chips and science act and yesterday or two days ago was also a celebration of democracy in the united states. the speaker of the house, in a bipartisan fashion alongside a democratic elected official in taiwan, highest ranking president tsai. so we had the opportunity to speak to congressman seth moulton just after the taiwanese president's visit. he was also sitting in on those meetings, as you were, and he told us that president tsai had asked for the weapons deliveries to be speeded up. is that going to happen? well, there's certainly lessons learned from other situations around the world, most notably what has taken place in ukraine. that is a different situation as it pertains to taiwan. but we are in a mode of deterrence and we are also in a mode of listening and gathering information and making sure that our allies feel heard. we do not want to see