announced a new phase. muska will now picklist untaken control of the eastern donbass region. russ foreign minister says the west has declared war on russia by deep trying to destroy its economy. >> today, total war was declared on us.

this term is used by many european politicians when they talk about what they want to do with the russian federation. russian shuttling has struck the international a part and keep. these pictures show moments it was bombed. humanitarian aid stations have also been had to. u.s. president joe biden has visited american troops in eastern poland. the closest he has been to the conflict. he praised poland for taken and refugees from neighboring ukraine. he is scheduled to is that they refugee center on saturday. they had hit several targets inside saudi arabia.

authorities confirmed other areas for hit. the u.s. is calling for stronger sanctions against north korea after a test fire. washington will introduce a resolution to the security council. that is after north korea's leader said he is preparing for competition. the latest news as it breaks. with detailed coverage.

from around the world. >> this is insight story. -- this is inside story. folly: hello local welcome to the program. if you wore in ukraine has entered its second month. the leaders have met in brussels

condemning russia's actions in denouncing more sanctions. the 13 nato ally said russia's invasion of ukraine was the greatest threat in decades. their aim was to show solidarity ukraine but only up to a point. many have been willing to supply weapons, but the alliance made clear it will not become directly involved. u.s. president joe biden also committed more humanitarian assistance to ukraine. >> nato has never been more united than it is today. putin he is getting the opposite of what he intended as a consequence of going to ukraine. we built that unity with the european union and the democracies of the g7. >> we are reasserting nato's defense border for the

long-term. with more troops come with more air assets and more maritime capabilities. today, we decided on for new battle groups. the leaders agreed to provide options for long-term reset of our presence in the eastern part of the alliance. folly: as the nato summit got underway, leaders heard a call for more help from ukrainian leader bacsinszky -- zelenskyy. >> ukraine never wanted to fight. we just want to survive. i am not blaming nato, it is not your mess that is ruining our country. the alliance can still save our country by giving us those weapons. we never thought nato would be

afraid of russia. i am sure you understand russia will not stop in ukraine. ukraine is just asking for 1%. either to give them or to sell them to us, but we have not had any response. folly: let's take a look at with the west has done so far to support ukraine. u.s. and its allies have delivered weapons and financial aid to ukraine, including antiaircraft systems and drums. they have also shared intelligence. they have imposed economic sanctions against russia. billions of dollars worth of humanitarian aid has also been flowing in to assist people inside ukraine. washington says it will provide one billion dollars more in humanitarian assistance. but president zelensky's repeated request for a no-fly zone has pretty much been ignored. let's now bring in our guest for

today's inside story. we are joined by hanna shelest. she is the director of security programs with ukrainian prism. vladimir sotnikov joins us from moscow. from washington dc, we are joined by nigel gould-davies. he is a senior fellow. and a former u.k. ambassador to belarus. welcome and thank you for being on insight story. western leaders have been tilting unity in their response to russia, announcing new military aid to ukraine and new sanctions against moscow. will this be enough to deter president vladimir putin. >> well actually, i think results of this is very

important meeting in brussels. my point is that even the growing up, the rapid increasing of the native forces on the borders with russia and the very much harsh economic sanctions would only speed up the card will of russian president vladimir putin. he already announced a very unexpected solution to pay in rubles for guest supplies to european countries. i think at the end of the day,

and might be looking like a loose position. russia will reply with symmetric measures. folly: interesting. our ukrainian leaders, how are they viewing the s support from the west? does it go far enough? >> i would like to clarify. that sounds very odd when we are seeing an additional battle group. that is a huge exaggeration that putin did a lot in his speeches.

it is important that unity continues. nato is trying to protect their territory. it was very nice to hear in the statements not only what nato cannot do but what nato is doing and can do for ukraine. including talks about additional weapons. that is definitely additional commitments in terms of the security and humanitarian aid for ukraine. we understand that the biggest

part of the agreement are not public and they are not announced and that is very important. that is very sensitive information. folly: indeed we did not hear the details. that show of western unity that we saw in brussels on thursday, a very strong symbol no doubt, but how practical is it in terms of security? >> you are right to mention the energy dimension as well. let's remember the meetings that have taken place this week, not only of nato, but the eu and the g7 too.

an unprecedented display of collective western unity. to put this into context, this is only the third time since the second world war that we have seen russian overreach invoking of collective western response. the third is today. there are dilemmas always and balance has to be struck in the way that this is done. it is important for the west to demonstrate continued results -- resolved and that western unity will not diminish or weaken. i know there are expectations on the russian side that the western resolved. and as it has in the past.

-- that the western resolved will soften as it has in the past. folly: how long can they maintain this unity? >> the next sanctions are the more costly ones and the harder ones. one of the most impressive announcement yesterday was that germany would wean itself off dependence on russian gas by 2024. it is painful and difficult to do, but they are preparing the way for a post russian energy future. already we have seen on this and other aspects of this issue, germany moving in ways that

nobody really predicted. it is less a member -- a matter of cracks and more a matter of the unequal speed of progress. it has been a very impressive display of unity and back continues. it has been a highly effective diplomatic campaign. folly: your thoughts about this. as the war beginning president putin's position? >> ultimately this is the western borders of russia. its not like russia is in ukrainian territory and is claiming that this is russian

territory. it is not like that. secondly, i would like to have my remark -- on nigel's remarks. in terms of energy, it is rather difficult adjusting by the year 2024 to substitute russian supplies. because it seems to me that there will be a recognized central system. it is difficult to understand how it will be function in the future and how successful it will be to have the supplies from any other country. can you repeat your question?

folly: my question was whether the war in ukraine was weakening president putin's position? >> i might disappoint you, but it is very unusual that the support of a russian president section in russia is more than 70 per front -- 70%. i do not think the special operation, even the economic hardships looming in the time, but we can the position of president putin. >> she says that president

putin's position in russian is only getting stronger. >> yes, we also have this information. and it can be easily supported. plenty of the international journalists have been trying to get interviews on the streets in different cities around russia asking about this. we have been shocked by the positive attitude. people do not feel anything negative about bombing. that really scared us. we also wanted to stay optimistic. but now seeing the strong support of the military actions, it is very shocking and there is

not the same hope that just the retirement of the russian president can change things. folly: let's take a closer look now on the situation on the ground from the russian invasion of ukraine. the areas in red are held by russian forces. the military advance has largely stalled. ukrainian forces in mariupol are holding out. what is your sense of where the conflict stands and where it is headed? and how long can ukraine hold that with this additional support that has been provided by nato? >> very little about this war has gone in the way back to russia intended. it has faced a series of setbacks that have exposed weaknesses in its political assumptions about the situation

in ukraine and about the performance of russian military forces themselves. that said, russia still has a very large number of forces it could continue to commit to this. but it knows come out russian knows, that as the flow of western support comes into ukraine, it will become harder rather than easier still for russia. and all the reports that we have about the morale and the motivation on the two sites in the field, suggest that ukraine's forces are far more disciplined and far more motivated in the fight. things are looking difficult for russia, which is why there was a fear in the west of a potential escalation. and it is really escalation scenarios that are the greatest worry here. we have heard worries from western sources that russia

might be contemplating the use of chemical or even more dangerous weapons. and if there are steps being taken to support nato against that. the other aspect, just to go back to an earlier part of the discussion. the economic cost that russia is facing on the homefront. it is facing military and economic costs. distinctions are only just beginning to do their work. -- these sanctions are only just beginning to do the work. let us see what happens to russian public opinion as those consequences work themselves out in russia. and not just the effect on russian public opinion. i watch russian television and watch these curated opinions of the elite and i see very unhappy faces. folly: is the work going to wait

russia wants? do they see it as being a winnable war? >> i would like to say in this regard i am not the military expert. i can only assume. i assume that at first, the special operation could be regarded as the strike which is a lightning strike. then probably the strategy which russian military planners have in their mind have changed because it is understandable when the actual war is waged on the ground. so that means there will be victims on both sides. on the ukrainian side, on the russian side. another strategy is to avoid unnecessary civic casualties.

so russia to my mind is trying to do this at least. i cannot say definitely the cost because i cannot see a lot of videos. we have blocked youtube and other western gadgets. i can only assume that this strategy is working. to avoid as much civilian casualties as russia can do. >> i understand that youtube is blocked, but i would like to center must do some videos. the problem is exactly the opposite. the original operation, but when

it did not happen like this, the next level was to try to capture every city. one of these losses started from the russian side, it was the use of the web -- heavy weapons. we can see not only in mariupol these awful videos of the tragedies that are happening there. also let's look to the adversity that is completely destroyed. let's look at the hospitals and schools. folly: indeed.

just to move the conversation forward a little bit. we are aware of different reports on the ground. there are fears of what steps russia might take next and perhaps force ukraine to make concessions at the negotiating table because the two sides are talking. what is ukraine prepared to concede? will ukraine cede any territory in order to gain a cease-fire? >> they are controlling predominantly the roads around there. and other territories, they are

not controlling completely. ukraine cannot capitulate because they are still not controlled by the russian federation. here i understand that one of the compromises can be traced back to the negotiations. folly: when russia considers some of these concessions? what would it take for russia to stop this war today? >> let me direct the discussion in some other direction regarding these concessions. at the end of the day, both sides who are worrying with each

other. -- warring with each other. could be that both sides could give concessions. i think the situation is not realistic for the moment. probably, this is my assumption, probably to reach a peaceful settlement, ukraine should negotiate getting the independence. russia should continue on these conditions --. folly: nigel, you have the last word. what choices does russia face now? >> putin is all in on this war. he has committed a great deal of

military and capital to it. the only thing that will stop him continuing it is if he reaches a conclusion that it is more risky to carry on with the war than it is to stop it. he is unfortunately far from the situation -- far from that situation right now despite the cost he has incurred on the battlefield. that is why the west has displayed this unprecedented degree of unity. the final point i make is there is no doubt whatsoever that russia is deliberately targeting civilians in large numbers now. they are trying to course ukraine into making concessions by killing large numbers of innocent people. folly: we won't leave it there. thank you very much for a very dynamic conversation.

and thank you for watching. you can always watch this program again any time by visiting our website. for further discussion, go to our facebook page. you can also join the conversation on twitter. thanks for watching. goodbye for now. tñ■aa

samantha hawley: it's only a jump across the water from great britain to no, buin some wa it's like traveling back in time. after more than 20 years of relative peace, tensions have broken out again. violence not seen for decades is back on the streets. northern ireland should be celebrating its centenary as part of the united kingdom, but people are angry.