break free from the big three and get connected to the nations most reliable 5g network. get the new samsung galaxy s22 series on xfinity mobile. and right now, save big with up to $750 off a new samsung device. switch today. this is cnn breaking news. hello and welcome to our viewers around the world and in the united states this hour. i'm hala gorani reporting live from lviv in ukraine where it is just past 8:00 in the morning. as the russian invasion of ukraine hits the one-month mark, western leaders are gathering to consider more ways to support ukraine without directly entering the conflict. the american president joe biden is in brussels right now for a full day of crisis meetings with

nato. european council and the g7. he's expected to announce new sanctions against more russian politicians and oligarchs. leaders will discuss ways to reduce europe's dependence on russian energy going forward, and this is where sanctions could hit a sticking point. nato will approve the deployment of four battle groups to further protect the alliance's eastern flank and the uk is set to announce a support package that includes 6,000 missiles and $33 million in military backing. now, ahead of these urgent meetings, the u.s. took a major step. it formally declared that russian forces have committed war crimes in ukraine, as russia's attacks increasingly strike civilian targets. and we are now seeing the carnage left behind after days of fierce fighting. we want to warn you, some of the images that you are about to see are graphic. in izyum, in the east of the country, a man filming video shows us charred buildings,

splintered trees, and bodies as well lying in the streets. to the south, in the hard-sit city of mariupol, new video shows a street littered with debris. a number of damaged cars and several bodies, as well. in the city of chernihiv, northeast of kyiv, these are the first images following intense shelling by russian forces. you can see rubble in the streets, badly damaged buildings, fires still actively burning. northwest of the capital, cnn teams witnessed the barrage of outgoing fire. ukrainian forces have been fighting to take back territory from russian troops in irpin, where the mayor says ukrainian forces now control 80% of the city. and meantime, a senior-u.s. defense official says ukrainians have pushed back russian forces on the front lines east of kyiv. now, these are both signs of progress as ukraine's president urges people around the world to demonstrate in support of his country.

>> i thank everyone who acts in support of ukraine, in support of freedom, but the war continues. the against peaceful people go on one month already. that long. it breaks my heart, hearts of all ukrainians, and every free person on the planet. >> well, president zelenskyy there has addressed many parliaments around the world. japanese parliament. he's addressed the french national assembly. kevin liptack is in brussels with the very latest on how these countries are likely to -- to try to shore up their support for ukraine as it continues to defend itself against this russian attack. >> reporter: yeah, and we should note we expect president zelenskyy to also address leaders of nato behind closed doors virtually today. we expect him probably to

deliver the same request that he's been making to all of these governments, including the american congress, which is to help enforce a no-fly zone over ukraine. that's something that nato members, president biden have stopped short of supporting, saying they don't want to put their troops in direct conflict with russian troops. president biden saying that that would amount to world war iii. but leaders gathering here do have a number of other items that they are prepared to unveil. they have been discussing them behind closed doors. their officials have been discussing them behind closed doors for the last several weeks or so. among them is bolstering nato's force posture along its eastern edge. that includes in the short-term these new battle groups going to countries like hungary, slovakia, countries on the southern part of the eastern edge. but they will also discuss some more permanent bolstering of the force posture on nato's eastern flank. they'll task their defense ministers to come up with plans for that, and then they will sort of decide on them at a more official nato summit that's due

to take place in madrid at the end of june. now, when the president meets with the members of the g7, he is also expected to discuss sanctions. he will announce new sanctions on new russian oligarchs. he is also expected to sanction members of russia's parliament. one other important thing that they'll discuss is sort of plugging the holes in the existing sanctions so -- so to ensure that people who have been sanctioned aren't able to evade punishment. and then, he will come here to the european commission. he will discuss the big issue here, which is european dependence on russian energy. that's something that the president has been nudging europeans to -- to -- to loosen their dependence on russian energy. that's something that the president will discuss. but certainly, the question looming over all of this is whether it will have any effect on vladimir putin. u.s. officials say this war is at a stalemate and they are increasingly worried about what he will do on the battlefield to sort of unblock that going

forward, hala. >> concerns that perhaps heavier weapons, even weapons of mass destruction might be used. kevin liptack, thanks very much for that, live in brussels. nato officials estimate as many as 15,000 russian soldiers have been killed in this war on ukraine. that is a staggering number in just four weeks. obviously, there are thousands more who are wounded or missing. the city of dnipro has largely been spared from the fighting, but it is collecting the bodies of russian soldiers and burying its own war dead all while trying to keep the city running. a warning, our report from cnn's ivan watson contains some graphic content. >> reporter: military cemetery stands in a wind-swept field on the outskirts of the ukrainian city of dnipro. rows of graves, a reminder of the stark reality ukraine has lived with for years. all of these crosses mark the graves of ukrainian soldiers

killed fighting against russian-backed separatists in the donbas region since 2014. and these are new graves for ukrainian soldiers killed since russia invaded ukraine on february 24th of this year. my guide here is michael, deputy mayor of the city of dnipro. yeah? >> very, very young men. very, very young men. >> born in 1997? >> yes, yes, yes, yes. it's very hard for us, for our city, and for people from ukraine. >> reporter: nearby, rows of freshly-dug graves that are, so far, empty. these are preparations in case there are more casualties? >> yes. >> reporter: this deadly war presents a bizarre challenge to ukrainian officials. on the one hand, they have to fortify city defenses and support the armed forces. and at the same time, provide

basic services like garbage disposal and running city buses. >> if you look on our street now, we have a clean street. >> reporter: how do you manage a city and fight a war at the same time? it's complicated, he says, but we have experience because this is the second war we've fought against russia. the ground war has yet to reach the eastern city of dnipro and its population of nearly 1 million inhabitants. sometimes, the city looks almost normal. though there is a strict 8:00 p.m. curfew, and instead of advertisements, billboards defiantly curse at the russian military. these days, city officials carry guns. this is because of the war that you have weapons? >> yes, yes, it's normal for me. it's normal for me. >> reporter: why is ronald reagan -- his portrait -- in your office? >> yes. because these guys, he is a very

charismatic guys and his guys destroyed soviet union. >> reporter: to see another side of the conflict, the deputy mayor brings me here to one of the city's morgues to see a parked refrigerator truck. >> in this fridge, they have 350 dead russian soldiers. in another morgue, we have 400. i cannot open this truck because in this truck, this fridge truck, a lot of dead guys. i don't want to show his face, his legs, his any pieces of body. >> reporter: he says all of the dead russian soldiers gathered from front lines across eastern ukraine are stored here in dnipro, before eventually being shipped to kyiv. why is the ukrainian government collecting the bodies of russian

soldiers? >> we cannot leave these body on our fields, on our streets, or another place. it's not normal. >> reporter: as we speak, we hear something in the sky. what's that noise? where do we go? >> over here. >> reporter: just now, we had a little alert because there was a sound that michael says was -- sounded like a russian drone. war dead and the threat of enemy drones. part of everyday life now in eastern ukraine. ivan watson, cnn, dnipro, ukraine. so, the european union was quick to open its doors to ukrainian refugees when russian bombs began to fall. eu leaders are now looking at

ways to share the burden of hosting the millions of fleeing ukrainians. one estimate puts the cost of caring for them at a quarter percentage point of the european union's entire gdp. but for the individual-host countries, the economic toll could be much greater. russia's invasion has driven more than 3.5 million people out of ukraine. eu leaders plan to take up the issue in a meeting on monday, and nearly all of those who fled are women and children because men are being conscripted. we want to get perspective on that. i am joined by james elder of unicef, united nations children's fund. let's talk about some very, very jaw-dropping numbers here that you can share with us. one in every two ukrainian kids have been displaced. >> yeah, hala, it's mind boggling. so since the start of the war a month ago, out of every boy and girl in the country, one out of two now has had to flee their homes. it is a number, it's a situation we have not seen before. not in living memory. you know? and it's -- it's almost

impossible to deal with now. i have to say that whether it's from blankets to water purification tablets to generators to medical supplies because mums are giving birth in hospitals. um, you know, unicef on the back have to -- 100 incredible ukrainian colleagues are trying to make the supply but unless the war stops, unless the indiscriminate attacks stop, we are going to see more children wretched from their homes under bombardments. >> and in every crisis, there is the short-term need and then the much longer term need. the longer-term need could be psychological assistance, finding schooling for these kids who, for many of them, for two years were out of school because of covid. >> yeah, you're spot on. they have already come out of a really difficult period like children around the world, mums and dads will appreciate that. they have now also seen either bombardment or listened to their parents talk about going to a country they have never heard of. they stand there and i have seen thousands of these, as i'm sure you have, mums and dads in that last embrace.

fathers trying, trying in vain to explain to their little 7-year-old why dad's going there and they are going off to another country and hands on -- on windows at trains. and then, they disappear and children don't know whether they are going to see their dads again. that figure in their life is gone. >> uh-huh. and one of the things we were talking about before the show is that sometimes the most painful childhood memories aren't even about the violence, it's about having or seeing or experiencing a separation with a -- with a -- an authority figure, a father or a mother. and millions of these kids are having to go there through this every day. >> millions. one in two. we have not seen it and so just in a time when they need him because we have seen this whole change in warfare, as well. we are seeing warfare come to cities. we are seeing warfare in populated areas, as you've just been showing. so we've seen children flee to bunkers and that often means stopping on the way and being covered by mum. and we are seeing them try to understand that war is on their doorstep at the same time

that -- that dad's not there. this is the continued scenario and it's going to worsen for children, so long as, you know, particular people decide not to stop this war. >> so people who are at home and feel so hopeless and helpless and they want to -- to do something, what can individuals do? >> well, i think first and foremost, for an organization like ours, there is no magic pot of money. so when i, as yesterday, when i see medical supplies, obstetric supplies because i was in a bunker with pregnant women. those supplies we are taking to 40-plus hospitals in nine districts. they come from the generosity of mums and dads, of companies. so that's the first place for people to start for sure. >> some donations there. let's talk a little bit -- last question -- aboutest long-term needs because if this war, god forbid, drags on for years, what then? because these kids are in neighboring countries where doi they don't speak the language, they are out of school. how can organizations like unicef help? >> what then?

it is the question that keeps us awake at night. what then in terms of the risk of trafficking? >> yeah, i have heard that a lot. yeah. the risk of human trafficking and gender-based violence. >> exactly, hala. and the secretary general of the u.n. said it darkly, candidly, which was in a war for traffickers, it's not a tragedy, it's an opportunity. that's terrifying. millions of kids without clear access to school. countries are trying but poland's taken a million refugees. that is an incredible amount to add. and trauma and stress. those things aren't just terms. they mean that a child, if the war doesn't stop, will have mental-health issues going forward. may well, you know, be able to -- these things affect this young, growing nation as does a brain drain of children fleeing or young men going to the frontline. >> yeah, absolutely. james elder of unicef, thanks so much and thanks to all your teams on the ground doing the great work that they do. and we were talking with james about ways ordinary people can help. we've compiled a list of organizations on cnn.com/impact.

a curated list for you where you can, you know, choose organizations or funds that you'd like to contribute to. when the invasion started, russia expected to own the skies above ukraine but ukraine's air force had other ideas. >> a flight we flew three against 24. it means our three fighters repelled the attack of their 24 aircraft. >> how an outgunned and outnumbered military refuses to relinquish air superiority. that's after the break.

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the first parts of a new $800 million military aid package from the u.s. have arrived in ukraine. they include weapons aimed at securing ukraine's air space, like armed drones and anti-aircraft systems. ukrainians have been asking for those from the beginning. but it is also the mission of a ukrainian fighter pilot, who spoke exclusively to our fred pleitgen. >> reporter: counted out early in the war but still going strong.

against all the odds, russia has not managed to ground ukraine's air force. we spoke to fighter pilot andre who was in an undisclosed location, and hiding his identity for safety reasons. at first, russian pilots dominated in quantity of fighters and equipment. now, they are starting to refuse to fly because we are shooting them down. we try to work with tactics. >> reporter: andre says he flies an su-27 air superiority fighter. this is video provided by the ukrainian military of the same model, an older plane but one that's still effective. >> i shot down russian planes. unfortunately, i cannot say how many and how exactly i shot them down. air to air missiles, ground to air missiles were repeatedly fired at me. there was a flight when we flew three against 24. it means our three fighters repelled the attack of their 24

aircraft. it's impossible for us to verify those claims but during our interview, we heard what seemed to be a ukrainian jet taking off. andre says the u.s. helped teach him and his fellow airmen how to beat the russians. >> translator: we have our tactics. we conducted the clear-sky exercise with our american friends. we now are using some of the tactics we learned from the americans. >> reporter: the u.s. and its allies, initially, believed russia would own the skies over ukraine just days after their invasion. but the spokesman for ukraine's air force says they were ready. >> translator: we've been preparing for this scenario for eight years. it cannot be said that our military did not think this would not happen. we have destroyed 100 aircraft and 123 helicopters already. >> reporter: a lot of russian aircraft have been taken down by

shoulder-launched missiles supplied by western allies but the ukrainians also still operate longer-range systems like the s-300. the air force spokesman says ukraine wants western missiles and u.s. jets. >> translator: i am talking about nato integrated air defense systems and f15 eagle or f16 fighting falcon. they may be unused or decommissioned ones but they could serve the ukrainian military. >> reporter: for andre, the battle for the skies over ukraine is personal. both, his mother and his wife are helping in the effort to fend off the russians, he says, and that he too is willing to sacrifice. >> translator: everyone's afraid of being killed. it's one thing to die with honor. another thing is to die without honor. >> reporter: the u.s. has said ukraine's air force remains largely in tact and combat ready. the battle for the skies, another area where this outgunned nation is persevering against all odds.

fred pleitgen, cnn, kyiv, ukraine. well, ukrainian troops were cheered around the world for standing up to a russian warship in the first days of the war could be freed in a prisoner swap. ukraine's deputy foreign minister says she hopes the 13 servicemen who had been stationed on a strategic bit of rock known as snake island could be exchanged for some russian sailors in ukrainian custody. back on february 24th, the troops on snake island refused russian orders to lay down their weapons, and we heard audio of them swearing at the russian warship. you'll remember, go eff yourself. the troops were presumed dead at the time but ukraine later announced that they, in fact, surrendered. the war in ukraine is now a month old with no sign that either side is prepared to back down. western leaders are now set to hold a number of urgent meetings on the crisis. we'll bring you the latest. plus, the determined resi resistance in ukraine echoes the bitter fighting the soviet army

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in just a few hours, western leaders will begin meeting in brussels for a series of

emergency gatherings on the war in ukraine. today marks one month since the fighting began. u.s. president biden and his western counterparts are expected to announce new sanctions on russia and more weapons and supplies to ukraine. nato members will also decide how to shore up defenses in eastern europe. on wednesday, the u.s. formally declared that the russian military had committed, in its estimation, war crimes in ukraine. and now, we are seeing new footage of some of the carnage on the ground, and we should warn you some of the images are quite graphic. in izyum, in the east of the country, a man shooting video shows us charred buildings, splintered trees, and bodies ly lying in the streets. a u.s. defense official tells cnn that ukrainian fighters are trying to push russian forces out of that town. and in the south, in the hard-hit city of mariupol, video shows a street littered with debris, damaged cars, and several bodies. the driver of this vehicle had

to speed away when it apparently came under fire. ukraine's president is calling for global demonstrations denouncing russia's aggression. >> come to your squares, your streets, make yourselves visible and heard. say that people matter, freedom matters, peace matters, ukraine matters. >> if nato's estimates are correct, russia's war casualties after just one month in ukraine may be as high as all ten years of the soviet-afghan war in the '80s. cnn's nic robertson has that story. >> reporter: nearly 43 years ago, moscow ordered troops into afghanistan. over the following decade, some 15,000 soviet red army soldiers would die there. their war and eventual retreat led to the collapse of the soviet union.

today, the death toll of russian troops in ukraine could already match those killed over ten years in afghanistan. 498 dead in the first week of war, according to russia's defense ministry. and despite no update since, nato officials say after a month of fighting, the russian death toll is now as many as 15,000. across dozens of russian cities, more than 15,000 people have been arrested for protesting the war. recently, anxious parents of troops have begun showing up. putin's achilles heel is the perception soldiers are dying unnecessarily. it's why his tightened reporting laws swamped russia with kremlin propaganda and it's why the ukrainian military shows off battlefield gains, like knocking out russian tanks or captured

russian soldiers because they know bad press back home is what got the red army out of afghanistan. what sucked for the soviets in the '80s was the afghans' determination to fight for their homeland, and that the united states supplied the afghan fighters with stinger surface-to-air missiles. the shoulder-launched weapons turned the tide of the war. russian helicopters were easy prey. they lost air superiority, and with it the will to endure high casualties and anger back home. two years after a pullout in 1989, the economic cost of war overpowered the ailing soviet economy and seven decades of communist rule collapsed. afghan parallels with today's war in ukraine are clear. like, the afghans, the ukrainians are ferociously battling to save their homeland

from moscow's army. and as they did with the afghan fighters, the u.s. and allies are supplying the ukrainian army with u.s.-made stinger missiles to shoot down russian helicopters and jets with success. >> the airspace is contested and it's contested because the ukrainians are making it that way. and they're being very smart about how they're marshaling and using their air defense resources. >> reporter: tank-busting u.s.-made javelin missiles are also helping ukraine keep putin's army at bay. russia's enemies, if not russia, that learnt the lessons of the afghan war. no one yet, though, predicting the collapse of putin's power. nic robertson, cnn, brussels. well, i will have more from lviv at the top of the hour. but for now, i will turn it over to rosemary church at the cnn center in atlanta. rosemary. >> thank you so much, hala. and still to come, a packed day for u.s. president joe biden as he discusses russia's

invasion of ukraine with nato and g7 leaders today. we are live in brussels. that's next.

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welcome back, everyone. we have new updates on u.s. president joe biden's trip to europe. mr. biden will speak at an extraordinary summit of nato leaders in the coming hours. the meeting is being held to discuss the ongoing deterrence and defense efforts in response to russia's invasion of ukraine. and it's expected to conclude with the announcement of more sanctions on moscow. nato leaders also plan to send more troops to its eastern flank. and here's more from nato

secretary general stotenberg. >> i expect leaders will agree to strengthen nato's posture in all domains. with major increases to our forces in the eastern part of the alliance. the first step is the deployment of four new nato battle groups in bulgaria, hungary, romania, and slovakia. >> joining me now from brussels is david stanger, cnn political and national security analyst and white house and national security correspondent for "the new york times." good to have you with us. >> great to be back with you, rosemary. >> so on a day that could prove to be nato's biggest test in decades, member states gather for this emergency summit to show their solidarity and of course support for ukraine with more sanctions against russia for its brutal war, but also additional military aid as we heard there. how far might nato go in

offering military support to -- to ukraine do you think? >> well i think right now, rosemary, what you are going to see is more of the same, an intensification of what we've seen so far. which is to say, more flows of weapons into ukraine. obviously, the ukrainian military is doing a better-than-expected job with what they're getting. but you're going to hear from president zelenskyy -- these battle groups that are being put together in new nato states or relatively new nato states near ukraine. you are seeing that the message to -- um -- president putin is you will get the exact opposite of what you were hoping to get, which is to say more of a western presence. i think the nervousness underlying all of this is how putin is going to react and

that's why you heard mr. stoltenberg, president biden, all express concerns about the possible use of chemical or biological or maybe even a battlefield nuclear weapon by president putin to sort of warn everybody to stay away. or attacks on those weapons convoys. >> yes, and presumably, that threat of the possibility of certainly the nuclear option or chemical weapons could perhaps change the calculus here of the decision-making process. but i did want to ask you this because while all 30 nato countries remain united in helping ukraine militarily, when it comes to sanctions, many of them haven't stopped buying russian oil and gas. so, putin hasn't felt sufficient pressure to stop this war. so how likely is it that more nato nations will be convinced to support blanket sanctions on russia's energy sector?

because that's the only thing that's really going to make putin feel this. >> well, i think putin is feeling it but if you were truly trying to implode the russian economy, which is overly dependent on oil and gas exports, clearly that's the revenue source you have to turn out of. i think you will see probably today a ban on coal imports from russia. that is interesting and directionally important but it is not a huge amount of revenue. the big problem is that germany, italy, a few other key members can't live, for now, without russian gas. and, you know, i think when the history books of -- are written here, i think, rosemary, what you will see is that the great strategic error that the west made after the fall of the

berlin wall -- even before that -- was becoming more and more dependent on those gas pipelines from russia. and we're really paying the price now. so i think you will see a lot of commitment to long-term energy independence from russia. but emphasis on the word long-term. >> yeah. and that's the problem, isn't it? they are going to need to find alternative energy sources, and it's a bit difficult to do that with so, so little time really. but i did want to ask you this, too, because -- >> you need to build a lot of facilities. >> yeah. >> particularly, l and g facilities. >> we know boris johnson of the united kingdom is looking to saudi arabia. but -- but at this point, too, a month into this war and the world now realizes that russia's army isn't as mighty as previously thought. it's -- it's stalled right now. running out of food and fuel. an estimated 15,000 russian soldiers have apparently died. because ukrainians are putting

up this incredible resistance, and now a top russian adviser has quit and putin's defense minister is apparently missing. all this, while some brave russians protest this war at home. it's not looking good for putin. where do you see all of this going? >> well, that's both -- um -- the good news and the bad news of this. the good news of this is if you think back to a month ago today, when the war really began in earnest, we thought that the russian military was ten feet tall. today, no one thinks that. we thought vladimir putin was a master tactician. today, no one thinks that. we thought that nato couldn't get its act together to bring weapons in on -- on a broad basis. there's been remarkable unity. the difficulty that we're facing, rosemary, is we know that vladimir putin, when cornered, tends to double down. and what we've seen over the

past four weeks is a cornering, and so a good deal of what they've got to go do today is come up with a common strategy if he lashes out. that's why we reported in "the times," um, last night that president biden has created what they call a tiger team that's supposed to look at these scenarios, including some of the most terrifying of them. and come up with some common responses. and i think the big question is when the leaders get into that nato room, when their aides -- >> david, i'm sorry, i am going to have to interrupt you. i am going to have to interrupt you because nato secretary general stoltenberg is about to speak. let's just bring up the audio there. >> we will address this crisis together. um, and address the -- the threat it means for ukraine, for nato, and for the whole national

space. president zelenskyy will address the nato leaders, and the leaders will focus on our support to ukraine. provide support to ukraine for several years and we have stepped up with more military support, financial support, military support to help ukraine uphold its self-defense. nato's core task is to protect -- we have increased eastern part of the alliance. today addressed the need for reset of our defense in the longer term. and the first step is the establishment of four new battle groups in the eastern part of alliance in bulgaria, romania, hungary, and slovakia.

we need to do more and, therefore, we need to invest more and there is a new sense of urgency and i expect that the leaders will agree to accelerate the investments in defense to meet the pledge we have made to invest more in defense. and i welcome that several allies have all made announcements on the investing more in defense. the meeting today will demonstrate the importance of north america and europe's standing together facing this crisis. and we are the strongest alliance in the world and as long as we stand together, we are also safe. thank you. >> i want to get a sense from you of nato's understanding of president putin's actual mental state at this point because what we understand, of course, is

that even his central bank governor is trying to leave her post. he is seeing some defection, if you will, from his inner circle. what's your sense of his mental state at this point? >> president putin has made a big mistake and that is to launch a war, to wage war against an independent sovereign nation. he has underestimated the strength of the ukrainian people, the bravery of the ukrainian people and the armed forces and the -- and, therefore, they are also meeting much more resistance than they expected. we need in order to address the actions that we see russia is doing in ukraine, and that's the reason why we have significantly stepped up the support to ukraine, and why we have increased the presence of nato troops in the eastern part of the alliance, and increased the

presence of troops. we do so to be able to respond and address any threat, any challenge to our security and what kind of decisions and what kind of decisions that may make. i'll explain further about that. >> are you worried about a nuclear threat? >> the ukrainian media, can you explain it's not final the conditions? >> nato provide significant military support to ukraine. nato allies have trained tens of thousands of ukrainian soldiers who are now on the front line fighting against the invading russian forces. the ukrainian army is much better equipped, much better trained, much better command than now than 2014. and the combination of training and support from nato and

countries and the bravery and courage of the ukrainian forces is enabling the ukrainians to really resist and actually fight back the invading russian army. we provide ukraine also with advanced air defense systems, anti-tank weapons with missile and fuel. many of our allies are providing different kinds of support. but we also made it clear we will not send in nato troops on the ground or nato planes in the air. we do that because we have a responsibility to ensure that this conflict do not escalate beyond ukraine that will cause even more suffering, even more death, even more destruction. and to declare a no-fly zone over ukraine means that we need to impose it. and to impose a no-fly zone means that we need to massively

attack russian air defense systems in russia, in belarus and in ukraine and also be ready to shoot down russian planes. then the risk for full-fledged war between nato and russia will be very high, and that will cause more death and more destruction. >> you mentioned yesterday if chemical weapons are used in ukraine it could have a direct impact in nato countries. could this be considered an attack on a nato ally? >> i'll not speculate beyond saying the following. any use of chemical weapons would permanently change the nature of the conflict. it would be a blatant violation of international law, and it will have widespread and severe consequences. the seriousness of using chemical weapons of course bec becomes even more obvious knowing that there is

condemnation for the chemical agents are spread over bigger areas. so this will be a catastrophe for the people of ukraine, but of course it is also that we can see the spread of chemical agents into nato territory. i will not spaeculate other tha nato is always ready to defend and react to any type of attack on a nato allied country. >> how concerned are you about -- what does the new military posture of nato mean in terms of national defense spending? >> national defense spending i see a new sense of urgency among all allies. we face the most serious crisis in a generation so we need to

address security. and allocate more not only for defense budgets. i expect to accelerate the implementation of the commitments we are made to investigate more in defense. and i welcome the decision, for instance, by germany to spend 2% of gdp on defense. this will really make a difference because germany has such a big economy. so the increased investments by germany makes a difference for appliance. well, we call on china to join the rest of the world in clearly condemning the russian invasion of ukraine. and not provide political support. and of course neither provide any kind of material support to the russian nation of ukraine. >> unanimously ask you to stay

on as general secretary general -- >> all right. we were listening there to nato secretary general jens stoltenberg. he was emphasizing there that no nato troops will good on the ground in ukraine, and they won't be in the air. he was also emphasizing more investment for european countries when it comes to defense and security. so we will continue to follow this. he was saying there the importance of unity. this of course ahead of this emergency meeting of nato members. all 30 members will be there in just a very short time, and they will be there to discuss sanctions to be applied on russia as a result of putin's brutal war in ukraine and increased military support for ukraine. we'll continue to follow this. thank you so much for joining us. i'm rosemary church. more of our breaking news in just a moment. we've been coming here, since 186868. there's a lot of cushyhy desk jobs out there, but this is my happy place. there are millions of ways to makake the most of your lan.

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this is cnn breaking news. >> hello. welcome to our viewers around the world and in the united states this hour. i'm hala gorani reporting live from lviv in ukraine, where it is almost 9:00 a.m. local time. as the russian invasion of ukraine hits the one-month mark, western leaders are gathering to consider more ways to support ukraine without directly entering the conflict. u.s. president joe biden is in brussels for a full day of crisis meetings with nato, but also with the european council and the g7. he is expected to announce new sanctions against more russian politicians and oligarchs. leaders will discuss ways to reduce europe's dependence on russian energy, and this is where sanctions could hit a sticking point. not everyone is in agreement about how to address that problem. nato will approve the deployment of four battle groups to further protect the alliance's eastern flank, and the uk is