The front lines in
eastern Ukraine,
fierce and relentless fighting
is raging in and around the city of back.
Much That's where Russian forces
are now eyeing further advances
as they edge
towards the center of the city
from three sides.
This video posted on social media
shows some of the damage left
by the ongoing battle.
It's unclear
how many Ukrainian forces
are still inside the city.
But officials say
troops are launching counterattacks
to try to preserve their access
to back from the West.
Meanwhile, the US is warning
there will be real costs for China
if the country were to approve Russia
or provide
Russia, rather,
with lethal aid
to be used in its war on Ukraine.
That comes after the CIA
director said the US is confident
Beijing is considering sending such aid,
but that a final decision
hasn't yet been made.
The US
national security adviser weighed in.
Beijing will have to make
its own decisions
about how it proceeds,
whether it provides military assistance.
But if it goes down
that road,
it will come at real cost to China.
And I think China's leaders are weighing
that as they make their decisions.
We will watch carefully.
We will be vigilant
and we will continue
to send a strong message
that we believe that sending military aid
to Russia at this time
when they are using their weapons
to bombard cities, kill civilians
and commit atrocities
would be a bad mistake.
And China should want no part of it.
So there's clear space
and full independence for us.
Joining me here in London,
it would change the entire dynamic
of this conflict, wouldn't it?
Yeah. And I think that's
why you see this effort
from the US to talk about it
publicly, multiple officials
coming out first.
We had Anthony Blinken
about ten days ago.
He, according to State Sullivan, laid out
those potential consequences
in his meeting with Chinese top diplomat
Wang Yi.
We don't know what
those consequences are.
I think it's safe to assume
there would be economic
consequences, sanctions
and things like that.
And the US
clearly making the point
that this would be a red line.
I think they hope that
this will be a deterrent,
that they won't have to get to the point
of enforcing those consequences.
And, you know,
we have to be really clear
about what they're saying here
because the CIA director
was out
on Sunday as well on CBS
and he said, look,
we're confident in his words
that the Chinese leadership
is considering the provision
of lethal equipment.
They don't know that they have concrete
plans.
There certainly hasn't been a decision.
There hasn't been any shipment,
he said, as of yet.
But they are confident
they are considering it.
So they're trying
to get out ahead of this.
And obviously,
if the China does make the decision
it would come at a time
when the US believes
that Russia has overestimated
its ability on the battlefield.
Take a listen to a little
bit more of Bill Burns
I think Putin is
right now entirely too
confident of his ability to wear down
Ukraine to grind away.
And that's
what he's giving every evidence
that he's determined to do right now.
At some point,
he's going to have to face up
to increasing costs
as well
in coffins coming home
to some of the poorest parts of Russia.
There's a
cumulative economic damage
to Russia as well.
Huge reputational damage.
It's not exactly been
a great advertise ban
for Russian arms sales.
So this is going to build over time.
But right now,
the honest answer,
I think Putin is quite determined,
quite determined and Bill Burns,
Max, also pointed out that Russia's
military ties
with Iran are, in his words,
moving at a pretty fast clip.
So clearly
they're trying to avoid the same thing
happening with China.
Because that could
turn the tide on the battlefield
and be a very dangerous situation
for Ukraine. How much?
I guess it depends
what sort of weapons they receive.
But, you know,
we keep hearing these reports
say running out of
different times of weaponry
and the soldiers are exhausted
and so many are dying.
How much difference
would that support from China make?
Do you think?
I think it would make a major difference.
China has a major weapons
industry of its own.
The intelligence that
Washington colleagues
have reported on before
this is that it was ammunition and drones
that China was considering sending,
not sort of large scale artillery
and things like that.
But that is
really the front end of the issue
at the moment
because of the type of fighting
that we're seeing in the Donbass,
really heavy
expenditure of of of ammunition.
Drones are heavily
and we've seen them overnight
attacking in particular the Kiev region.
Ukraine has shut down most of them.
But these are the sort of more disposable
elements of weaponry
that Russia is burning through
at an incredibly fast rate.
It's really sort of reset
the expectations of the military
industrial complex
on the side of Ukraine
in terms of the transatlantic alliance.
And we know that that Russia
has been looking to Iran
and are now looking potentially
at China Clare, thank you.
Overnight, Ukrainian forces
shot down 11
Russian attack
drones, including nine in the airspace
around Kiev.
At least two people have been killed
and four others
injured in a drone attack.
And Chmielewski,
a city as about 200 miles
southwest of Kiev.
These attacks are coming.
As President Zelensky said
in recent days,
he does still believe
Ukraine can win the war this year
as long as its allies
remain united and continue in delivering
weapons to Ukraine.
CNN's Jim
Acosta is live in eastern Ukraine.
On the ground tracking these attacks.
Alex, what are we seeing that's happening
overnight and on the ground
Well, good morning, Kaitlan.
While these 14 drones were these
Iranian made
kamikaze drones
that were flown at two different cities
in Ukraine overnight,
come on, jetski, which you mentioned,
that's where at least
two people died
in a so-called double tap attack.
They were first responders
responding to another drone strike
when they were killed.
Three others were injured.
11 of these drones
were fired, active,
at least nine of them
shot down by air defenses.
But these sirens wailed
for some five and a half hours
because this was a multi wave attack.
That is not normal.
Normally, these sirens
go for a couple of minutes,
then are turned off.
And it really speaks to the fact
that in cities like this
where people are living
relatively normal, lives,
they live under constant
fear of these attacks.
And it really does highlight
the major security concerns
around President Biden's trip
to Kiev last Monday.
Yeah, and of course, the fact that those are
the Iranian made
drones comes
as we're having the broader discussion
about maybe China potentially
providing weapons to Russia.
Also, Alex, you know,
we're hearing from Republican lawmakers
who are being
very critical of the White House
because they have not sent
the F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.
President Biden
actually weighed in on this to ABC News.
And this is what he said about the
idea of sending them
president.
So Wolinsky
continues to say what he really needs
are F-16s.
Will you send F-16s?
Look,
we're sending him
what our
seasoned military thinks he needs now.
He needs tanks,
he needs artillery,
he needs air defense
including another high marks.
There are things he needs now.
You don't think he needs F-16s now?
No, he doesn't need F-16s now.
Alex, that's just something that
Ukrainian officials flatly disagree with.
This is kind of like the debate over
tanks, Caitlin, where the U.S.
said that
that Ukraine doesn't
need em on Abrams tanks,
but they decided to give them
to Ukraine in the end
so that the Germans would release
those those leopard to tanks. The U.S.
standing firmly
behind that line of President Biden
that right now in this fight,
Ukraine does not need fighter jets
that right now
the priority should be on artillery,
on longer range rockets, on tanks.
That fighter jets are not necessary
for this fight.
They're not ideologically opposed
to sending fighter jets.
In fact,
I've been told that they wouldn't
it wouldn't bother them
if other countries
sent their fighter jets.
But right now, the U.S.
priority is on the ground fighting.
That is a priority, getting them stuff
very quickly.
And we are starting
to see those shipments
coming in
a major sticking point right
now is over the attack arms.
Kaitlin is you know,
those are the longer range rockets
that fly
some 200 miles or 300 kilometers.
Ukrainian saying
they need those right now
to hit Russian targets, to hit
command post, to hit
ammunitions depots, supply lines,
targets in Crimea.
The U.S.
has only sent rockets
that go
as far as 100 miles or 150 kilometers
because there is a real American fear
about provocation,
about the fact
that Russia would see
those longer range rockets
as an escalation.
Now, Ukraine, of course, disagrees.
So that is a major
sticking point between the U.S.
and Ukraine.
Certainly a point of contention.
Alex Marquardt, thank you.