report from the heart of brazil stuart's march 9th on d. w. a. there. i'm david, and this is climate change briggs, it's sex. who happiness in 3 books. this is the book for you. you'll get smarter for free. d w books on you turn. russian forces continue their advance on the ukrainian capital, t of and other key cities. the onslaught has had an unexpected side effect. vladimir putin swore seems to be uniting and often divided world in new york, the un general assembly overwhelmingly condemned the brutal onslaught. a slew of companies have closed down operations in russia, or divested themselves of russian related holdings with harsh sanctions in place.

joe biden says proteins more isolated than ever on to the point where asking pariah, put in isolated and angry with . welcome to to the point. it's a pleasure to greet our guests. jessica berlin is a german american expert on geo politics, founder and managing director of the consultant, sea coast struct. krista fun, marshall is diplomatic correspondent for berlin, leading daily debt. haggis should be good and it's a pleasure to welcome our colleague from a d. w's, russian desk, a roman, gone to ranko, originally from ukraine. he joins us now via skype, from the border between ukraine and romania,

and roman, as i understand it, you are there to try to help your family leave ukraine. so tell us what you and they are experiencing at the moment. well, yes, yeah, i am sitting in a hotel romanian, ukrainian border, waiting for my family to come over. i have a lot of relatives in ukraine and all of them to come to germany, but i'm only my mother and my brother's family actually ventured to leave the city . they were all afraid. most of them are elderly people and also families goes with children, are very hesitant because they said it's dangerous to be on the road. and which is true. it's a very long distance, some 5 to 7, maybe 800 kilometers. they have to drive and it takes days to come. so my family spend 3 days to come here yesterday. it was thursday and i was just driving for

15 hours. you can imagine with kids and my mother is not it is not in a condition where she can manage long distances, but still she's coming and i do hope that she will be able to come to romania and then i'll bring her to germany. but the rest of my family is staying there, some of them in. if i had a very emotional talk with my aunt and she's living outside here and her family was torn apart. some part of they were planning to leave on 2 cars and a one car managed to get away and, and her with her daughter and some other kids was in circles. so they are staying in their home, sleeping in the basement, and very terrified. how long do you think that the ukrainian force is defending a key of other cities as well, but particularly the capital can hold out? well, i don't know. i think that they could hold out for weeks maybe months because the

spirit is very, very strong. what you don't know how russia would react, and i think russia would probably try to use both. during the siege. i mean, heavy bombardments and trying to cut off electricity, food supplies, things like that. so it does look terrible for you for the coming weeks. i think and just one other question, what awaits your family at the border? what conditions they're like. i've just heard from one of my own relatives who left ukraine via the polish border. that there was a terrible press of people, almost almost a kind of a mob atmosphere people desperately trying to get across. well, poland is the main route, ukrainians are taking. so that's why we decided to take the south and rolled over a manual dog. we don't know yet exactly how they will come back here is the situation more or less under control, i would say,

especially on the romanian border where i am. so i've heard a lot of all the reports that remain police and other other services are very, very helpful. thank you so much. we'll be right back to you. well, with, with some more questions in just a moment, but let me go now to christoph, in christa, one manifestation of this surprising unity that i referred to earlier is the amazing reception that has been given to the refugees who are streaming out of ukraine already. a 1000000 of displaced people, including by countries that had shut their borders in 2015. and i'm thinking, especially as we saw, of course, syria and afghanistan, refugees entering europe. and i'm thinking in particular of hungary, victor, or bonds, hungary, or about known to have friendly relations with putin. do you think that in the wake of what we're seeing in ukraine, mister or bon,

may be reconsidering his attempt to maintain those friendly relations and perhaps looking at more solidly joining the rest of the members? or is this a temporary unity? i think it's somewhere in between. i think there's a misunderstanding what the position of countries like hungary and poland worked in 2015. and since we misunderstood what they meant, then we now try to understand it in terms of the time at poland and hungary where never s santa phobic, if they were portrayed in western europe, especially in germany. if it is also, if you look to a refugee law, it is a difference whether people are coming of a thousands of kilometers going through a lot of countries where they would be secure, but decide to go on further for economy reasons. and that is a good reason, i don't say they should do that, but it's a difference whether they're coming. they are coming people from

a neighboring country where it's war and he was the 1st place where they can be secure. then you'll welcome them in different way in comparison, when you have to feeling well, they could have been secret somewhere else. but nevertheless, a coming that was the misunderstanding in 2015 in germany. i don't want to defend people like cartoon ski or, or bond, but we shouldn't keep literate leaders. yeah. we shouldn't rate for it on or do you think we will see a new solid you unity with him. he, as you know, of course, has been knock sliding all of that, no, no, not solid. it will be, i think everybody, everybody has now a little bit feet getting in that, that we need solidarity. and if, if you divide the west or you the white european union, it will be to your disadvantage before the war. so it was a feeling, you know, i can get my personal advantage even if i am not solitary with

the rest of the union. and i think this, this has passed. let me go to add jessica, and in her address to this special meeting of the united nations general assembly this week, jessica, german foreign minister on a linda barber said the following, and i quote, russia's war marks the dawn of a new era. it's a watershed moment, it requires each and every one of us to take a firm and responsible decision and take a side. are we seeing an iron curtain, a new iron curtain go down across europe? take aside? well, this is truly a turning point in german and in european history. what we've seen from this new government, the statements from chancellor shaw, it's last weekend and from minutes to bad book at the un, this shows a complete shift in our entire foreign policy and security policy. what they're not doing is trying to divide europe. on the contrary, this is

a call for unity between democratic partners in europe. what russia has done, let me put it like this. no country in europe has no great power, and nato has tried more than germany to maintain those close ties with russia. in fact, germany has been starkly, criticized for months for not taking a harder line. so this is definitely not a cold for a new iron curtain. on the contrary, germany wanted to negotiate this phrase d, i look but i had shoved the readiness for dialogue. that minister babble was constantly stating in the past weeks has come back to haunt her. and her statement at the un showed that germany has read the writing on the wall. they are serious about not just pursuing dialogue, but taking action. if putin is the anti hero of the current crisis, ukraine's president is his opposite number. delivering emotional appeals that are rallying support, both at home and abroad. ah, good morning to all of you,

ukrainians lea, a lot of fake information appears now on the net alleging i'm calling on our army to surrender, and there are evacuations. i own here, we will not quit our resistance even. we will defend our country because our weapons are the truth and our truth and the fact this is our land, our country, and our children, and we will defend all this. that's all. this is all i wanted to tell you. the capital key, anything the whole country is under fire from russian forces amidst it all, a ukrainian president who addresses his people and the european union almost daily, via video message, the my board of us, we are fighting for our rights for our freedoms, for life, for our life, the now we are fighting for survival. it's and this is our main motivation.

ali baba, we are fighting also to be equal members of europe slim. you, it'll be a political novice and a well known actor zelinski came to power 3 years ago to day in the middle of the war. there, the lawyer from a jewish family has become a leading figure. does he have what it takes to become an icon of freedom with ya? and let me put that question too. well, man roman would you have thought, let's say, months ago that president lensky would wind up being this kind of figure would wind up playing this kind of role. and i'm also curious what your family and others in ukraine are saying about him. well, absolutely it's, it's a very interesting transformation. lensky was, was a controversial figure among ukrainians who call themselves patriots. so the former

president, petro shenker, was criticizing him, partially for not doing enough against the russian aggression. and he was very controversial and i remember just a few weeks ago, he was also criticized or trying to go after pershing go to trying to put him on trial, things like that. and for preparing enough for the russian aggression. this is all forgot. now he's he, he's a real hero now, and not only in ukraine, but also a broad. i managed to meet him at the munich security conference just a few days ago. and he made a very good impression. he made a very good speech, very strong. he's from an actor, he knows how to talk to the public, but he managed to find the right words. i think this is he's, he's and number one strengths to find the right words at the right moment. and ukrainians have relatives around him. his critics as well. and this is a very astonishing development and roman,

what do you think is likely to be president savanski state? well, i hope his lives. he will probably have to leave the keys or sometime late. i don't know, but it looks very much like that, but for the moment he has chosen to stay just like millions of ukrainians as well. and just like the mayor of the year of the former books will champion vitale political, which is also an example of astonishing courage on both political and zalinski and our heroes here in ukraine they wrote before. but that admiration for them has grown much, much stronger. and this is a very good example for all ukrainians will stay and who fight christ, of not least in those in response to those very emotional appeals from presidents. zalinski, western countries are now out doing themselves with offers as weapons and military

support to ukraine. we're also seeing a number of e u countries calling for fast tracked e u membership for ukraine. do you think all of that is likely to deter, put in or provoke him? first of all, the unity is not as big as it seems from the outside. first of all, germany was not ready to deliver weapons for it. now, it is on limited care. okay. yes. now they're doing something. and that's where the lensky is asking for more and certainly we are not sending texts. natal could close the space over you korean, but we all know that they won't do that, although it would make a huge difference. but then of course, there's a risk that would mean world war 3 if nato would get engaged with russian forces. so yeah, and if you look at this fast track membership already very important. countries spoke out against it, germany, france, the netherlands. so if,

if people asking too much, then it rather splits the west or z u, as long as you are on a certain level, which might not be enough, but everybody can agree on. it looks like unity. but if you go further than the unity is not so reliable anymore, so i'm a little bit cautious about and you asked about putting will he be convinced? i think pooty lives in his own world and what news gets to him and to his head. we don't know about that. he is surrounded now by almost 20th by yes. so years and people who are not challenging him. so i don't see that he is crazy. i would never use those words. i think he is a rational, but he is rational in his own world. and the world in which vladimir putin is rational, might not be the real world and that makes it dangerous. so if he gets all the signals of unity of the west or whether he's still things you know, the west to stick them in the n,

c won't do anything which really hurt them. that we don't know the testers out.