for more is our political director jodi schneider in washington. what does it sound like for you for how the call went? >> they are very different versions. they agreed that they talked for two hours. the first time the two leaders have spoken since november. obviously the first time since the russia invasion of ukraine. the chinese summary came out first. in it, they said that xi jinping made the case that they did not want to see an invasion of ukraine and they did not think the countries conflict should be settled on the battlefield. they did not mention russia by name and did not publicly and have not publicly criticized russia or denounce it for the invasion. on the u.s. side, we got the statement several hours later and they said that joe biden came out strongly and he said there will be implications and consequences for china if they were to take direct support of russia such as selling aircraft or military equipment to them for that invasion. also made the case that president biden -- president biden made the case that the u.s. has taken a

it jodi schneider, thank you for your assessment. i want to continue this conversation with security neil genial -- i want to get your reaction to what jodi just said. this report from scott berrier saying that putin will increasingly rely on its nuclear deterrent to signal the west. how serious is this? >> i think there is serious concern anytime you're dealing with a nuclear weapon state engaged in aggression. you have to measure if they will rely on capability. it is a signal. it's not that they will use nuclear weapons, but they are making the point that they still have them. if that is the position and you can't respond to the russians, that gives vladimir putin clear way to do whatever he wants. we can't engage when they have already begun crossing lines. that will be enough. now they are going to kyiv. we have seen them escalate. a civilian buildings, schools, hospitals. a tremendous number of casualties increasing over time. we can't always be afraid of the nuclear deterrent to stop us from helping. emily: why shouldn't we be

i'm delighted to welcome mark tonight and our moderator jody schneider. as based in bloomberg's hong kong bureau from 2016 to 2020 and served as president of the foreign correspondence club in

for more, let's bring in jodi schneider and other guests. jodi, why did joe biden order this release? what domestic pressures is he under? >> it's all about gas prices and inflation. the last thing the president needs on election year when a voter goes to the gas pump is to have the higher numbers staring them in the face. he basically is releasing one million barrels per day for the next six months from u.s. reserves. he said this should lower gas prices. he calls it vladimir putin's price hike. even though inflationary pressures have been sending up gas prices higher even before this increase in the past month the war in ukraine. president biden in a press conference lay this out. he was talking mostly about oil, but he threw a bit of a bone to the environmental lobby and those who want to see the u.s. lower its dependence on energy sources from abroad by looking at things like solar and battery powered vehicles and electric vehicles by saying he would spend $3 billion to weatherize homes and for states to do that. and would increase the pr

shery: let's get the latest with jodi schneider. so what does this demand for neutrality and compromise actually mean? jodi: the ukrainian officials are saying this with a have a big condition attached. is that russia basically withdraw its troops from ukraine and start an immediate cease-fire. they are saying they will be neutral but not cede any territory. not a single inch, came from the deputy chief of staff. so it does not seem to change the picture much. it signals a willingness which of course led to oil prices dropping and a lot of market moves on some tempered optimism. but at the same time it does not really change the picture because ukraine is saying russia needs to leave ukraine and russia is so no signs of doing so, saying that it will not change its strategy at this point. it would agree to talk but it is not going to cede that ukraine has to stop the resistance is russia's demand. shery: we are seeing the white house weighing potentially more sanctions against a major nuclear supplier in russia and we are also hearing

jodi schneider joins us now. jody, where do we stand when it comes to these negotiations? there are concerns that this latest overture from moscow may be tactical. >> the concern this is more talk then action or hope of action as antony blinken has said. there is what russia says and what russia does. those talks ended with russia indicating that it might allow a pathway to talks between the russian president vladimir putin and the ukrainian president. there are several hurdles even to that. there was no agreement on key measures like a cease fire or a withdrawal of russian troops or the security guarantees that ukraine has been seeking for it to deliver on its concessions that it may move back from certain areas. security guarantees that russia has not discussed. there was a little bit of movement in the market, the market responded optimistically that there may be, there was nothing significant, no two ways from president biden and antony blinken said that we will see what is delivered. there is a lot of talk but a little movement. haidi: not even a scheduled call for th

jodi schneider with us now. what are we expecting from this trip? >> several main messages to look for from president biden now that he has in brussels. one will be unity. nato and the european allies and the u.s. and the u.k. are united in the denunciation of vladimir putin and his invasion of ukraine. they are doing what they can to try to stop it from going any further and to stop him from any gains he can make the anti-punishment for this. biden also wants to show solidarity with european countries who are taking in millions of refugees from ukraine. more than 3.3 million ukrainians have left their country. more than 10 million have left their homes. obviously some staying in ukraine but they have had to leave their homes and their communities. president biden wants to make that clear. that the u.s. supports and empathizes with what will be a growing refugee crisis. certainly he wants to make the case for more sanctions. the u.s. has had the toughest section on oil because the u.s. imports the least amount of crude oil and petroleum products fro

let's get the latest from our political director, jodi schneider. what is happening on the ground? we keep hearing reports of more bombing. jodi: it does appear to be getting worse. there has been bombardment in several major cities in the ukraine, and that there have been missiles -- strikes in kyiv, the city that many analysts have said they fear could fall, perhaps in days. at the same time, you have estimates of one million refugees heading out of ukraine to neighboring countries, with the u.n. saying that you could have 4 million people leading there in the coming weeks and months. so it is a real problem on all those fronts. at the same time, interestingly, there were talks today between the ukraine and russia at a location in a forest between the two countries, but of course, the expectations were low to start with, and there was no real victory. russian president vladimir putin and his officials said that ukraine would have to denuclearize, and that is not something -- and de-militarize, something that officials there were not willing to do. at the same time, you are seeing

let's get the details from jodi schneider. what can we expect from the phone call?> the expectations are that joe biden will seek to get xi jinping to try to agree or to push him to give some assurances that they will try to help the u.s. and its allies to get russia out of ukraine. we have been hearing in recent days from chinese officials that they are trying to reassure the ukrainian people publicly that they are their friend, they will not ever attack ukraine. of course, the u.s. has been concerned given that there has been in the past xi jinping and vladimir putin having warm relations and president putin went to the olympics before the invasion. the u.s. is trying to suss out where china stands and at the same time, trying to push to get china to try to compel vladimir putin to leave ukraine or take steps to push back, to pull back on the war. we will see how significant that is. this comes as you mentioned the pentagon information agency has come out with a new 67 page threat assessment and basically it says president putin is likely to increase the rhetoric,

haidi: jodi schneider with the latest on ukraine. and our america stocks coverage.et's get you over to vonnie quinn with the first word headlines. vonnie: thank you and good morning. the european union is back to reinforcing the u.s.'s warning to china that would face serious consequences for helping russia with sanctions really for military support. sources say brussels and washington have been coordinating ahead of the e.u.-china summit with the aim of encouraging beijing to take a responsible stance on the war. communication with china is excited to be on the agenda when president biden meets e.u. leaders in brussels thursday. china has played stronger monetary policy support for the economy while cautioning against slowing the market with liquidity. the country's cabinet called for the adoption of monetary tools to keep credit expansion at a stable pace. they also promised to maintain policies that can support the economy while pledging to avoids measures that can hurt market sentiment. japan is warning of potential electricity shortage on tuesday and has issue

i'm delighted to welcome mark tonight and our moderator jody schneider. jody was based in bloomberg's hong kong bureau from 2016 to 2020 and served as president of the foreign correspondence club in hong kong in 2019 and 2020. as soon as jody returned from hong kong to new york last year. she joined the opc and was elected to the board in the summertime. she is now political news director at bloomberg news here in new york. i now handed over to jody. thanks patty and i happy to welcome everybody to this book night. i only wish it were in person, but i'm very pleased to introduce mark clifford who i overlapped with in hong kong and i'm pleased to call a friend and very excited to discuss this new book with them. we welcome questions, so, please send them along. please send them in the chat if you want to if you don't want me to use your name say that or if you want to keep it just dm me in the chat. so it's so your name's not attached you can do that as well. thank you. first a brief bio of mark little introduction before we get started discussing his thoug

. >> that was jodi schneider with the latest. this is the focus turning to geopolitical issues. the prime minister warned washington about a nato like lock in the asia-pacific, echoing vladimir putin's comments. let's bring in stephen engle from hong kong. what stood out from this annual address? >> the foreign minister passed up the opportunity to criticize russia's invasion of ukraine and also when you call it an invasion, he essentially said the relationship with beijing and moscow is rocksolid. he did go on to reaffirm that beijing will pledge humanitarian assistance to ukraine and help facilitate dialogue between moscow and keep -- steve -- k yiv. on taiwan, he resist any -- resisted any parallels. this is what he had to say on the taiwan matter. >> an issue arose from contention. namely russia and ukraine. some people are being vocal about the principle of sovereignty on the ukraine issue. this is a blatant act of double standards. >> he is saying that ukraine and russia are separate countries, taiwan and china are not. it is a similar status quo but also warning the unite

let's bring in jodi schneider and kathleen hays. the higher level talks also did not result in compromise or progress. >> they didn't. these were the first high-level talks between russia and ukraine held in turkey. they left after 90 minutes with neither side feeling that they had made any progress. in the ukraine side, they came with clear demands that russia withdraw troops, that there be an immediate cease-fire, and that there be an improvement in humanitarian situation in the cities in ukraine. the russian side said they never thought about cease-fire, that is not why they were attending the talks. beside making little progress, the differences did not seem to change much. in addition to that, russia has been hit with a real exodus of foreign firms and foreign personnel from russia. today, we saw goldman sachs saying it is not doing business in the country. consumer giants like mcdonald's and starbucks saying they will not operate in russia. russia is starting to think about ways to retaliate against those companies. may be tak

and u.k., let us bring in jodi schneider. when it comes to the geopolitical dynamic, how significant are these import bans? >> it is significant from the standpoint of this is a move to further isolate vladimir putin and russia on the world stage. the harm to the economy, that is the big takeaway, u.s. crude from russia only accounts for 3% of u.s. supply, 8% of total petroleum products. it is not a huge amount but the point that the u.s. is making is we are not going to buy any of your commodities. the u.k. will still buy coal and natural gas, but they will put in an oil pan. -- ban. they are trying to do the hundred they can do which is economic harm and even though it will need -- mina some pain at the pump in the u.s. and more instability in the global oil supply which is going to have an effect on oil markets. >> we are seeing a bombardment when it comes to kyiv. what are we hearing about what the strategy is here? >> the strategy appears to be the same strategy that vladimir putin has used since they began the invasion

jodi schneider has the details.e signs that we could see a more violent conflict coming from russia. >> the military analyst and the west says it looks like russia is shifting strategy. and they go to places that they thought would not be too well defended in terms of very targeted strikes. and when resistance was stronger than anticipated, they took a pause and are starting a new phase that is expected to be a much more deadly phase where they will be targeting areas and using different kinds of more indiscriminate tactics including residential areas. we saw some of that today in the past two days where residential areas targeted and there were civilian casualties. this is causing concern about the refugee crisis deepening and accelerating into neighboring countries like romania and poland and hungary. you could see more than 4 million ukrainian refugees. >> we heard ukrainian president zelensky urging them to allow his country. take a listen. >> we have proven our strength. we have proven that, at a minimum, we ar

haidi: kathleen hays, jodi schneider, su keenan. take a look at the early movers in sydney. so much dominance when it comes to a strong rally from energy producers. call jumping 46%, the russian invasion, futures are being traded in newcastle doubling from friday's closing price. we see this as european coal is surging to a record. some oil-related names as well as holdings, one of the few non-energy names. let's get you to vonnie quinn. >> according to -- supply problems will slow growth and drive up prices. u.s. treasury secretary janet yellen says congress can boost growth if it passes the remaining biden administration proposals. her comments echo those of the president in which biden urged lawmakers to reconsider parts of his legislation. western australia has reopened to vaccinated travelers. all of australia is now open to tourists and foreign workers. western australia is bracing for new cases and is introducing limits on surgery and wrapping up containment measures. hong kong recorded 55,000 covert infections on wednesday. this as chaos and confusion grow around pla