ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, joins us next. russia, michael mcfaul, join us next.onster problem and our hero needs solutions. so she starts a miro to brainstorm. “shoot it?” suggests the scientists. so they shoot it. hmm... back to the miro board. dave says “feed it?” and dave feeds it. just then our hero has a breakthrough. "shoot it, camera, shoot a movie!" and so our humble team saves the day by working together. on miro. vladimir putin, the man donald trump called a genius for invading ukraine, ordered the bombing of a crowded shopping mall in central ukraine this week, killing at least 20 people. no comment from donald trump on that bombing. he is busy lying about other things these days. the attack is the latest example of vladimir putin's use of terror tactics that make russia the biggest state sponsor of terrorism in the world on a daily basis. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy released this video, calling the attack one of the most defiant terrorist attacks in european history. president silence key addressed a nato summit in madrid by video, saying

joining us now is michael mcfaul, who served as the u.s. dministration. he's an msnbc international affairs analyst. ambassador mcfaul i, apologize to you -- i will focus it to you. this program has been unable to reach within our hours to ukraine coverage while we have been covering the shooting, the mass murder in uvalde, the january six committee. so, could you just bring this audience up to date on the state of the war and what we need to know about vladimir putin's war of aggression in ukraine tonight. >> lawrence, thanks for that big question. first of all, i want to frame it big. if you think about the big objectives that putin tried to achieve in ukraine, he has failed in most of them. he failed to turn ukrainians into russians. he just call them russians with accents. and unity did not happen. he failed to denazifying the country. that is, to overthrow the country zelenskyy. that did not happen. he failed to demilitarize the country. that did not happen. he failed to take kyiv and other major cities. that didn't happen. but he is ac

with us tonight to discuss, michael mcfaul. former u.s.international affairs analyst. he wrote the must read book from cold were hot piece, an american ambassador in putin's russia. ambassador, a senior ukrainian official told nbc news, he is still worried, even with this new aid, do you think he should be, or does he have to say that? >> great question. and i dont have a great answer. here's what i would say. they've been having a debate, the ukrainians have won -- at what you just described, they're called hammers, and 1:42's. these are long range rocket systems, guided rockets, that will now, after this delivery, we'll go much farther than what the ukrainians have, 70 kilometers. the ukrainians wanted the rockets that will go farther, 300 kilometers. whether you're satisfied or not, the ukrainians are publicly asking for more, the way i would describe it is this, they've gone much farther than before, and not as far as the ukrainians would like. >> they have to keep asking for more. if they say thanks, we're all set, we are surely going

ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, joins us next. so they shoot it. hmm...o board. dave says “feed it?” and dave feeds it. just then our hero has a breakthrough. "shoot it, camera, shoot a movie!" and so our humble team saves the day by working together. on miro. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day and get to and stay undetectable can no longer transmit h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your doctor about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfe

michael mcfaul and which has already presented two documents, a plan for strengthening sanctions andanctions road map that contains detailed recommendations regarding a coordinated and agreed sanctions policy. its part of the full barva for russian oil, it must be done as quickly as possible, energy carriers make up the lion's share of the profits of the russian budget, so by buying them, europe finances the russian military machine. the european union responds to russia's aggression by increasing sanctions and gradually increasing the supply of weapons to ukraine. this is too long and ineffective. we propose to change the approach. what the russians do not expect is to do what the russians do not expect. will only help to save thousands of lives, it will also barely allow us to avoid a protracted war for which russia has already prepared, we ask you to convey to your partners in the european parliament the importance of such approach, we will also be grateful for political and any other assistance in obtaining the weapons that ukraine desperately needs, the continuation of sanctions

with me now, msnbc analyst and former ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, and executive editor of newsange missiles to ukraine. russia says that it is deliberately pouring oil on the fire, talk to me how significant the decision is. >> it is significant. ukrainians have been asking for these kinds of weapons for a long time. this will enhance their capacity to get precision russian targets inside their territory. it was married very explicit by president biden and his administration. the agreement is that they will not use these weapons to hit targets inside russia. but i think it will expand their capacity, but it would have been nice if they got there sooner. remember, it will take training before these weapons will be operational with ukrainian soldiers behind them. >> that piece about training is always critical to understanding the long tale. david, french president macron said that putin made a historical error by invading ukraine, but added that russia should not be humiliated, so that the day that russia stops, we can pave our way out through diplomatic means. the ukrainian --

joining me now, michael mcfaul, former ambassador to russia in and msnbc international affairs analyst a good friend as well, nice to see you. , so first to the saudi arabia question. why do you think the administration seems willing to meet with the saudi leader at this time? do you think the russia situation at all forces this issue and the timing? could it at all put the president in an uncomfortable position? >> yes. it's all about the price of oil in the world. we want the saudis to produce more, they haven't, they've been reluctant to do so. i think this trip is designed to get them to do so. now, i think it's a very dangerous trip for the president, given what he said. there needs to be more pressure on the saudi regime. regarding human rights. but, if he's going to make this trip, i think he needs to be blunt, crystal clear, that he will not land in saudi arabia and then let's say agree to a very specific amount of excess production. that conversation can't happen in saudi arabia, it's got to happen before. that is the right way to play this diplomacy. >> so, the fact that -- y

here to discuss and help us understand the latest as michael mcfaul, former u.s.russia and national security analyst clint. i will start with you. give us a sense of what is happening on the ground right now. >> selina, the russians are fighting more like we thought that they would when the war kicked off. several things have happened. one, they integrated and concentrated their forces, rather than doing a very disastrous plan in the beginning, trying to take kyiv and topple degree ukrainian government within a week, they are realizing that if they want to take a ground they have to do it militarily and a way that they have to fight. this is by using armor formations reinforced with overwhelming amounts of military artillery and force. they are doing this in the east. severodonetsk is the critical location. they are pounding with artillery. on both sides of the battle, ukraine and russia, you are seeing hundreds of casualties per day. this will essentially lead to 1 to 2 months of hard-fought battle. a period where you will see a stalemate. it is going to be hard

joining me now, michael mcfaul.assador, friends of opposition leader alexey navalny are worried about another possible assassination attempt. he has been poisoned twice by the kremlin. what do you know about alexey navalny and his being moved? what are your concerns? >> he has been moved to a place farther away. it's known to have much worse conditions. they want to cut him off from the outside world, make it more difficult for him to meet with his lawyers. that's the way he communicates these days. he meets with his lawyers. they talk. he then sends messages to his family and friends and his activists. the organization is still alive and well, mostly working outside of the country. they are trying to cut off those ties. yes, everybody should be worried about his physical condition. the less eyes and less contact that they have with him, the more likely that something tragic could happen. >> of course, he returned to russia even after being poisoned and recovering in germany and took that risk, because he is committ

let's bring into our conversation, greg myre and ambassador michael mcfaul.mes, horrific injuries, horrific terror eked out today on these innocent civilians. what else do we know about this attack? >> yeah, well, this is a city in central ukraine. it's been hit before, but that's because it had a big oil refinery. this was a shopping mall that was absolutely obliterated and just was hit. it burst into flames. there were hundreds, maybe a thousand people inside. they're still trying to determine the casualty count. but it really speaks to this larger russian approach that we've seen in the past few days of, you know, if you search for a military rationale here, you're not going to find it. the russians, over the weekend, and today, have hit -- fired 60-some missiles at a lot of cities 60-some missiles, and a lot of cities in the northwest, and west and center of the country, places that are not being hit previously, causing civilian considerableties and a number of cases here in kyiv, just a couple miles from where i'm sitting right now. so it seems to be pos