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Ukraine-Russia Talks Set to Take Place in Coming Hours; Ukraine Forces Hold off Invasion of Kyiv; Images Show Russian Military Convoy on Road to Kyiv; Mayor of Berdyansk says Russian Forces Have Taken City; Putin Puts Russia's Nuclear Deterrence Forces on Alert; E.U. to provide $500M of Lethal Assistance to Ukraine; Germany Vows to Arm Ukrainians Fighting Russian Troops. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 28, 2022 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:47]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine. And our breaking news this hour, a Ukrainian government official telling CNN that Ukrainian intelligence indicates Belarus is prepared to join the Russian invasion. Now, that comes as Ukrainian and Russian delegations will meet for talks in the coming hours near Ukraine's border with Belarus, which is of course a key Russian ally, but has bitter fighting continues. Ukraine's President appears to have little hope the conflict will be resolved.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translation): As always, I don't really believe in the result of this meeting. But let them try. So then later on, no citizen of Ukraine would have any doubt that I, the president, did not try to stop the war when I had a chance, small as it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And cue me (ph). All right, so far Ukrainian forces have managed to defend the Capitol Kyiv, despite being outgunned and outmanned.
Let me show you some video now released by Ukraine's Armed Forces showing a drone attack on Russian forces outside give but Russian troops they're pressing forward and new satellite images show a military convoy stressing stretching more than four kilometers on a road leading to Kyiv.
To the south, Russian forces have taken control of a town on Ukraine's coast that is home to a small naval base. That's according to the town's mayor. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not backing down. On Sunday, he put Russia's deterrence forces including nuclear arms on high alert, a move that was swiftly condemned by the NATO Secretary General.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): Top officials in leading NATO countries have allowed themselves to make aggressive comments about our country. Therefore, I hereby order the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff to place the Russian army to turns force on combat alert.
JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: This is a behavior which is irresponsible. And of course, if you combine this rhetoric with what they're doing on the ground in Ukraine, waging war against the independent sovereign nation, conducting full fledge invasion of Ukraine. This adds to the seriousness of the situation.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The E.U. and other world leaders are also condemning Mr. Putin's actions and ramping up support for Ukraine. The E.U. says it will provide $500 million in lethal assistance for Ukraine. The European Commission President calling this a watershed moment as it is the first time the E.U. is financing the purchase of weapons to a nation under attack.
Germany making its own historic show of support, pledging more money for defense spending and vowing to arm Ukrainians fighting Russian troops. Now, CNN is covering the story from every angle with correspondents across Ukraine and around the world. White House reporter Jasmine Wright in Washington with how the U.S. is responding. Jill Dougherty is in Moscow. Our Eleni Giokos is in Dubai, keeping an eye on the market. But let's start with Nick Paton Walsh in Mykolaiv, in Ukraine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Pitch battles are happening outside, many Ukrainian towns at the moment and we visited one of them where it was extraordinary to see the determination, the heroism, but also to try and understand what on earth Moscow's forces are trying to do, fighting their way into densely populated areas.
The bridge here hasn't been raised for as long as they can remember, but neither as the sleepy port town of Mykolaiv been invaded. The clack, clack is likely exchanges with Russian paratroopers who were told landed nearby. Locals struggling to keep up with their world here collapsing and soldiers edging.
[01:05:00]
The fear here, Russian saboteurs like these two suspects thrown to the ground by soldiers. Then the sirens go off. And it is back in the basement for Mother's and cats.
Hear the noise of what Russia would do to these towns in the name of subjugation and geopolitical game. Police tried to turn lights off, it seems in businesses that closed in a hurry, life persisting, caught between hoping this is short lived, and wondering if it may go on forever.
Behind it all, in empty streets, the fear they may be overrun. And whether each huge blast with the decisive strike that lets put in troops enter. The shelling just went on and on. The next morning, we saw where it hit. It's likely a missile tore up these Ukrainian tanks, but nobody left, feels broken.
(On camera): How do you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) good, very good.
WALSH: Good. Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
WALSH: They tried to come into the town. But I see (foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in foreign language).
WALSH: He's saying, the Russian has tried to come in last night but the town of Mykolaiv defeat them. And you can see what it looks like here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in foreign language).
WALSH: He's saying look around here, I'm asking him how you feel living here, looking at all this? This is where you live, right? Because I look at this, look at these windows that are blown out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking in foreign language).
WALSH: Yeah, so the words of Russian ministers who's be saying that they're not going to hit civilian infrastructure here. He's repeating them back to me saying look, look at this. They say they're not hitting civilian infrastructure. Look at this damage around.
(Voice-over) Putin's rockets may have shattered glass, but not dented the anger here. As they take stock, you have to ask yourself why Moscow ever thought these towns would gladly be occupied and what Russia's end goal is. 10 plus free here, blood has been spilled. But despite Russia's overwhelming firepower, they did not pass.
(On camera): Now, come Sunday night we heard from the mayor of that town on his telegram channel telling people to organize the circular defense of the town and to get Molotov cocktails. A sense it's certainly facing another onslaught. But you can see in that report how serious they are about defending their homes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, as the fighting continues in Kyiv, one couple has taken to social media to show what it's like being stuck in the Ukrainian city. Joining me now is Romans Tsegelskyi and Cecilia Fernandez Pena. And thanks for doing so. First of all, Cecilia, perhaps just give us an idea of how life has been in these past few days, with the bombs and the worry of Russian troops coming in? I can't imagine how stressful it's been tried to give us an idea.
CECILIA FERNANDEZ PENA, TRAPPED IN KYIV, UKRAINE: Yeah, it's been -- I don't even have words to describe. We are trying to take things calmly. But it's been stressful in a way. I think everyone can cope with what's going on in different ways. I think both Roman and I are lucky that we can take things with (inaudible) and calmness. But even though you're calm, and you know that you're trying to take things stoically or like, process it, you know, in the way that this is what's happening, let's try to keep calm and make the best decisions. Your body's still stressed out. I don't know if it makes sense. But you can eventually like yesterday, we could finally feel it, I could finally feel it that I had like this overall accumulated stress. But overall, like we are keeping positive, we are positive like in our household or as a couple, we truly -- we truly believe that this is going to be over and we hope the best for Ukraine. But it doesn't mean that we're not saddened by what's happening, of course.
HOLMES: And Roman, in this country now, if you are aged between 18 and 60, you can't leave and I assume that's part of the problem for you. How are you feeling?
ROMAN TSEGELSKYI, TRAPPED IN KYIV, UKRAINE: Yes, no, definitely. Since the first day, right, borders got close for people from 18 to 60 and feeling stressed, honestly, I mean -- and saddened by situations that is happening by, it's a distraction by unnecessary suffering. And yeah, it's just a tragedy to be honest.
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HOLMES: Yeah. Cecilia, back to you, because I read -- I read on -- I want to read -- for people, I read on your Instagram, something you posted, which is actually very hard to read, and I'm just going to read it now, you said to family and friends, "I have to be honest with you all, it no longer feels right, to tell you that we are safe, that we are OK." I mean, it must have been so hard to realize, at that point that that's what you needed to tell your family?
FERNANDEZ PENA: Yeah, it's -- yeah, it's true. The thing is that during this period, I mean, I know, it's relative, because it's been -- this is our fifth day. And when I say relative, I mean in terms of time, but it feels longer than five days. It's -- it feels like it's been, I don't know, like one day is like a big, long day, like nights. We don't, we don't catch that much sleep, you know, because we're like, kind of all the time attentive and alert. And so, I have been receiving lots of messages from family, from friends, you know, that are abroad or know me from back home. I'm originally Bolivian, Nicaraguan and so I've been receiving a lot of messages. And, you know, I have also family in the U.S. And so I at the beginning, you know, I was trying to do my best to also not keep them preoccupied and know that I'm safe, you know, that everything is going to be OK.
HOLMES: Yeah.
FERNANDEZ PENA: And because they had also asked me at some point, like, before these all started, they were like, I think it would be good for you to leave. And we were looking at an alternative before Thursday when this all began. And, you know, we were not -- we would not -- have the possibility for X&Y reason. And so, at the beginning, I was telling them, I'm OK, I'm safe. I'm OK, I'm safe. And then suddenly, yesterday, I was like, it kind of all came to me. And I was like, I'm not -- we're not safe, we're not OK, nobody is. Because you're talking to friends. You're talking to people, like every morning starts with like taking the status of our friends who are still in Kyiv. Our friends that are like in Lviv, our friends that are at the border trying to get out, you know. So it's just like, how can we say to people, we're OK when really it is a war? You know. And there is -- you are -- can find outside, there are explosions, there are like, yeah, there's stress for sure.
HOLMES: Right. I wanted to -- I wanted -- we're almost out of time. But I wanted to get your thoughts on this, Roman, I mean, as a Ukrainian I'm talking to Ukrainians every day, and they all say a similar thing. Did you think it could ever come to this, Russia invading a major European capital, your country? I mean, it must be difficult to believe that there is a chance that Russians will put in a government here and run your country. It must be -- you must be disbelieving of all of this.
TSEGELSKYI: I mean, it's unbelievable. This is happening, you know, in 21st century. Obviously, we're -- we wanted to be prepared for the wars, right? When all of this started happening in November, December. But up until the last moment, I mean, nobody could believe it. Like you cannot believe that a war can happen in a major European country in a 21st Century. It's just not housing service (inaudible), often it's it. Yeah, it's like -- it's -- you feel surreal. Like it's something you're you cannot really believe or fully comprehend. I have no words to fully describe this feeling. It's like something totally unique, still cannot comprehend that this is happening to your country, which Ukraine is a peaceful country. We have no claims towards anybody on a right for self-determination. That's it.
HOLMES: I hope we can stay in touch and reach out to you again and talk some more. Roman Tsegelskyi and Cecilia Fernandez Pena, I really appreciate you taking the time. Try to stay safe and try to stay strong. A lot of people will be thinking about you. Thank you very much.
FERNANDEZ PENA: Yeah, yeah. Thank you.
TSEGELSKYI: Thank you, thank you so much.
FERNANDEZ PENA: Thank you. We're staying strong (foreign language).
HOLMES: Yeah, stay strong. All right. Well, the Ukrainian crisis has led to rare bipartisan agreement among U.S. lawmakers about expanding sanctions on Russia and standing united with America's allies.
[01:15:08]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ CHENEY, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN: There's certainly more we can do. We ought to be sanctioning, not just Putin, not just Lavrov, not just the oligarchs, but all of their families, this behavior, this aggression against Ukraine is something that that the world simply cannot tolerate. So the sanctions ought to go further as I said, we've made good progress so far.
MARK WARNER, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATS: The United States response has been stronger. Because we've actually brought all our European and other allies along with us. What he's also been able to do is unify the vast majority of us in the Senate Democrats and Republicans alike --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Which is been quite difficult lately, yes.
WARNER: Right. With the Ukrainian people, with NATO, and he's going to pay a high price.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, for more on the U.S. reaction to the day's development, CNN White House Reporter Jasmine Wright, joins me now live from Washington. And Jasmine today, President Biden set to hold a call with allies on their response coordinated response, including more sanctions, perhaps against Russia, what's on the table?
JASMINE WRIGHT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, that's right, Michael. And look, no doubt, a big part of that conversation that President Biden will have with his allies and partners somehow in the situation room when he returns home to Washington, D.C. from his home in Delaware is going to be about these new threats from President Putin about nuclear capabilities. And the White House has been trying today really to deescalate things in a lot of different ways. Instead taking a step back and saying, look, these threats from Putin fit into a wider pattern of basically unprovoked escalation that they've seen from him over the past week and months plus, but also manufactured threats. And White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, she summed it up very well, the administration's position when she was in an ABC interview earlier today, take a listen.
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JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This is really a pattern that we've seen from President Putin through the course of this conflict, which is manufacturing threats that don't exist in order to justify further aggression and the global community and the American people should look at it through that prism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WRIGHT: So Saki added after that, that the U.S., of course, has the ability to defend itself, but that it was important to focus on calling out what the White House views as Putin's playbook. And now this comes after the white President Putin has seen really a united front from Western allies, both condemning Russia, but also those sanctions that are coming in waves that you just spoke of, Michael, really, as a U.S. says that they've been put in place stronger and stronger each time proportional to Russia's own aggression. And so now, while the U.S. is taking this new threat from President Putin very seriously, they would not update reporters when asked about the current nuclear alert level, instead of saying that the U.S. has the ability to protect yourself. So no doubt all of this plus potentially stronger sanctions are going to be a part of the conversation, as the U.S. and Western allies continue trying to put pressure on President Putin trying to get him to stand down, and at least if not that, trying to make him and Russia in the economy faces real consequences if they continue to go on, Michael.
HOLMES: All right, Jasmine, I appreciate the update as always. Jasmine Wright there live in Washington for us.
Well, as we enter a fifth day of fighting, the humanitarian toll in Ukraine becoming more apparent. Just ahead, we'll take a look at the human cost of Russia's invasion.
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HOLMES: Now, the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine is growing. Let's just have a look at some of these numbers. They are incredible. According to the Ukrainian government figures, at least 352 people have been killed, among those at least 14 children, nearly 1700 have been wounded, more than 100 of those are children.
Leaders in the European Union already considering how to best help refugees likely headed off to E.U. states.
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JANEZ LENARCIC, EUROPEAN COMMUNICATION FOR CRISIS MANAGEMENT: We are witnessing what could become the largest humanitarian crisis on our European continent in many, many years. The needs, the humanitarian needs are growing as we speak. And our number one priority should therefore be the assistance to people affected by this war.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: In the coming hours, talks are expected to take place between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, unclear what if anything will come of those discussions. Even the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has set low expectations.
Well, for more on this, let's bring in Arseniy Yatsenyuk, he is a former Prime Minister of Ukraine. For security reasons, we are not disclosing your location. Thanks for being with us. talks today between Russia and Ukraine, what are your hopes for something, anything really substantive, and importantly, something acceptable to Ukrainians?
ARSENIY YATSENYUK, FORMER UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER: You know, here's the thing, Michael, first of all, let me thank you for the job you're doing. You and CNN are telling the truth to the world. And this is a very strong weapon against the Russian aggression.
In terms of the talks, I believe that these talks are no more than a smokescreen. Putin is a liar. He is a killer. So I don't believe that Putin wants to negotiate. He has a huge, huge opportunity and big window opportunity to solve this problem, to solve this crisis. Not to wage this war with the diplomatic solutions. But he lied to the world. He lied to us. He lied to you. He even like to his people. So I don't expect anything good out of the talks with the Russian Federation.
HOLMES: What do you make of Putin putting nuclear forces on high alert? Sorry, continue.
YATSENYUK: Yeah, but I do respect the decision of President Zelensky at last to participate in this talk because we are showing our goodwill. We are showing that, look, we are ready to negotiate.
[01:25:01]
But once again going back to Russians, the only thing that Putin is ready to, he is ready to invade Ukraine, to conquer Ukraine, and to change the geopolitical structure of the world. That's his intention. And we are not allowed to make him succeed.
HOLMES: What then about this -- putting these nuclear forces on alert, if you like, using them, obviously in Ukraine would hurt his own country. So presumably, some of this is to show. But what does it say about his state of mind that he would even put those weapons on alert?
YATSENYUK: I don't know, Michael, whether you saw all these kinds of talks that Putin had with, his military commands, and the so called National Security Council that he holds a few days ago, but I strongly believe that Putin is unhinged. So now, he's in a very, very, I would say, specific psychological situation. On the one hand, this could be a saber rattling, and he's raising the stakes. And the reply the U.S. Administration, provided is the right one, not to increase the escalation. But on the other hand, well, this is a completely belligerent state. And he's a dictator. And we can expect everything out of these work criminal. I want to indicate that Putin and his cronies, they are more criminals, and they have to be brought to justice, and they will be behind the bars in International Criminal Court, the time will come.
HOLMES: If let's just say, and I know you wish this won't happen, and hopefully it won't. But if Russia prevails, and manages to get a pro- Russian government installed in this country, I presume given the history of this country, that would not be the end of it. Do you imagine that Ukrainians would continue to fight perhaps as an insurgency?
YATSENYUK: I don't want even to have any kind of deliberations all where the existential issue of Ukraine, Ukraine existed, exists and will exist, Ukraine will survive. And we actually showed it to the entire world. Neither Putin, nor even some countries in the free world expected these kinds of strong results and resilience out to the Ukrainian people and Ukrainian nation. So we will survive.
HOLMES: Former Prime minister of this country, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, thank you so much for being with us, as we say, a sign of the tensions here in an undisclosed location. All right, so we're going to take a quick break. When we come back on the program, Ukrainian forces face intense fighting in the country's second largest city but have so far succeeded in holding back Russian troops. We'll bring you the latest from Kharkiv when we come back.
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HOLMES: I am Michael Holmes in Lviv, Ukraine. It is just after 8:30 in the morning, minus 8 is the temperature Celsius, around 17 degrees Fahrenheit.
We are, of course, tracking the latest developments on Russia's assault on the country. A Ukrainian government official, telling CNN that new intelligence indicates Belarus may be prepared to join the Russian invasion.
In the coming hours, representatives from Ukraine and Russia are expected to hold talks at the Belarus border, as the fighting inside of Ukraine rages on. The U.N. General Assembly also set to hold a special emergency session on the crisis. The European Commission president speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about strengthening the country's defense capabilities and announcing for the first time ever, the E.U. would fund the purchase of arms for a country under attack.
Meanwhile Germany who will also deliver weapons to Ukraine, announced it is boosting its own defense spending.
Now we have seen intense fighting on the streets of Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv. But video shows how Ukrainian forces were able to repel a Russian advance.
CNN's Alex Marquardt with the details.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A Russian unit, moved cautiously through the outskirts of Kharkiv. Their goal -- to seize a nearby military airfield and factory. They're slow progress makes them an inviting target for Ukrainian defenders hiding nearby. Suddenly, an ambush.
The Russians fall back. Their soldiers, trying to shelter behind their Humvee type vehicles. Their chaotic retreat, seen here from another angle, one more example of the stiff resistance the Russians are encountering from mobile Ukrainian units who know the lay of the land.
But the Russians can't escape. They run into further trouble, apparently surrounded. At least one of their trucks is disabled. A resident telling a Reuters journalist, one of the Russians was killed in the fire fight.
YEVGENIV, KHARKIV, UKRAINE RESIDENT: After we killed this one, the others ran away. They were some 12 to 15 people. That's it. We will win. They won't take Kharkiv. They have run back to where they came from.
MARQUARDT: Ukrainian soldiers surround the abandoned vehicles, celebrating a small victory in a conflict where they should have no chance of holding off the enemy.
Off camera, one of them says, "And that is how we meet the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) Russian army."
But this Ukrainian platoon's day is not over. The enemy is still in the area. They dash forward to fire off RPGs, a ragtag army that, for now, is holding off a far superior force.
[01:34:50]
MARQUARDT: But for civilians here, the Russian offensive is terrifying. This apartment block in Kharkiv hit by artillery fire on Saturday night. Thankfully most of the residents were sheltering in the basement. Authorities say one woman was killed.
Alexander Dotsenko (ph) says all the apartments are damaged. It is very bad. Even as Ukraine resists, its people are still suffering.
Alex Marquardt, CNN -- Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now a Russian attack has destroying the world's largest aircraft. This is a satellite picture of the hangar in Ukraine where that plane was stored. The massive transport plane was parked in an airfield that has been the site of intense fighting.
The aircraft is called Mriya (ph) which is "Dream" in Ukrainian. The Ukrainians' foreign minister says, quote, "Russia may have destroyed our Mriya but they will never be able to destroy our dream of a strong, free and democratic, European state.
All right. Let's turn not to CNN contributor Jill Dougherty in Moscow.
She is monitoring the Kremlin's reaction to its military campaign against Ukraine. As Jill explains it does not 0appear to be going as planned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Several events here in Moscow that may indicate that the Kremlin is more and more concerned that this military operation in Ukraine is not going as they expected.
Number one, President Putin ordering his military to put his nuclear deterrence forces on high alert. What he called special combat regime. The Russian president saying he was doing it because of aggressive rhetoric coming from NATO and also from these draconian sanctions that have been leveled by the United States and by Europe.
The White House did respond but in a much more measured fashion, saying simply that the Kremlin is manufacturing threats that do not exist. And there is no indication, at least at this point, that the United States is changing its nuclear posture.
Then another sign, the military. The daily briefing by the Russian military admitting for the very first time that Russian soldiers have been killed and wounded in battle in Ukraine.
There were no numbers given and military spokesman saying that it is fewer than the Ukrainians have suffered, but still significant that first example of their admission that people are dying in this military operation.
And then finally another statement, this time from a former Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev saying that there is no need, no particular need to have diplomatic relations anymore. He said, "We might as well padlock the embassies and we can look at each other through binoculars, and gun sights."
Jill Dougherty, Moscow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Still to come here on the program, Russia faces severe sanctions from the west. A look at the impact they're already having in a live report coming up.
[01:38:03]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes coming to you live from Lviv in Ukraine.
After days of punishing sanctions levied on Moscow by the west, Russians have been spotted forming long lines at ATM machines. Many apparently worried their bank cards will stop working or that banks will limit cash withdrawals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since Thursday, everyone has been running between ATMs to withdraw cash. Some get lucky, some don't.
HOLMES: The U.S., the European Union, the U.K. and Canada announcing Saturday that they would expel certain Russian banks from SWIFT, that is the international payment system that connects financial institutions around the world.
Other sanctions included freezing the assets of some of Russia's biggest banks. Now, Russia's invasion, of course, has investors and everyday people, worried about the effect the crisis could have on their wallets. Inflation was already a concern for many. And now in the U.S. we are seeing fuel prices spike. Crude oil prices surging amid global supply concerns.
CNN's Eleni Giokos joins me now live from Dubai. Good to see you.
Russia's attack on Ukraine sent oil prices soaring. Bring us up to date. ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. I mean here's the
thing, Russia is a really important producer of oil and gas. And if you're thinking about shunning or ostracizing Russia out of the international market, that's going to have a significant impact on the oil price and it's manifesting in Brent crude coming up over $100 a barrel. It's now slightly below that.
But the prognosis is, Michael that you're going to have much higher oil prices and that is going to result in inflation as you say. And it's going to have global ramifications.
Now in terms of uncertainty that this is causing to market. Market participants are on edge. This is incredible uncertainty. You're seeing people rotating out of cyclical stocks, growth stocks because inflation equals to lower growth environments and economic pain and into more of the sort of risk-averse assets. So gold is doing really well during this environment.
You mentioned SWIFT. This is going to be really significant because again, you're ostracizing Russian banks from engaging on the SWIFT platform. That also means it makes it difficult for any country or company that is doing business with a Russian institution.
Even making payments for oil and gas is going to be difficult. And that is why some European countries were actually against implementing the SWIFT sanctions because it was going to have very big ramifications.
We were seeing those lines in Russia, Michael, and you're seeing people going to the banks.
The ruble is down around 30 percent over the last few days. Now, you've got to remember that Russia has around $50 billion worth of reserves that is going to try and intervene in its currency, but it's definitely not going to be enough. And the economic pain is going to be absolutely enormous.
[01:44:45]
GIOKOS: The big question is, are we going to see a run on Russia's banks? And you've also got to keep in mind that sovereign wealth funds, pension funds are exposed to Russian assets. The Norwegians now trying to pull back on some of that exposure because their pension funds are invested in Russia.
You're seeing BP that relies on Russia for around 20 percent of its oil and gas output, also trying to pull back on some of those investments.
So when we say Russia has sanctions and it's going to hurt Putin and it's going to hurt businesses, it is also going to hurt the international community, significantly.
And here is where the miscalculation came in from Putin, that he didn't actually anticipate that the west and Europe is willing to shoot itself in the foot to some degree in order to try and squeeze Putin at this point in time.
HOLMES: Yes. A lot of flow-on effects. Eleni Giokos in Dubai, appreciate. Thanks so much.
And we're going to take a quick break. After that, Anna Coren my friend and colleague will be back with more.
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: Michael, thanks so much.
Well, still to come many around the world are rallying behind Ukraine, condemning Vladimir Putin and Russia's war.
We'll have a closer look at some of the protests taking place across the globe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:49:57]
COREN: Welcome back.
Well, China's reaction to the conflict in Ukraine has some Chinese citizens there living in fear. The country has not condemned Moscow's actions, and has even relaxed some import restrictions, lessening the blow of western sanctions.
CNN's Steven Jiang joins us now from Beijing with more. And Steven, China walked a tightrope with Russia back in 2014 when Putin invaded Crimea. It seems to be repeating this act.
But, tell me, is that sustainable considering the international condemnation against Russia this time around?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Anna some would say, this is an impossible balance for them to strike as you said. On one hand they're trying to maintain, or even strengthen this alliance with Russia. This partnership now being described as quote-unquote, "having no limits by both country's leaders Xi Jinping and Putin just recently after the summit here.
Obviously, Russia is going to increasingly rely on China to help it reduce or even minimize this unprecedented severe western sanction against its economy and after this invasion.
But on the other hand, at least publicly, China is still paying lip service to this long-held principle of national sovereignty and pushing the national sovereignty and territorial integrity. That's something of course, something they have themselves often used to shore up their positions and claims in international disputes.
As of now, China still recognizes Ukraine as a sovereign nation, even though that pledged obviously turning increasingly hollow given what's been going and their response so far.
And then of course, given China's enormous trade volumes with the west -- with the U.S. and E.U. really dwarfing with Russia so they really tried to minimize its own exposure to auto western sanctions as well.
So all of those are just impossible to juggle. That's why exports say they cannot avoid making a heart choice and many -- according to many they have indeed decided to side with Russia despite their public insistence of being impartial judging the matter according to its own merits or are trying to play the role of a peacemaker.
But if you dive a bit deeper into their remarks and government (INAUDIBLE) -- they're really adopted -- they have adopted a lot of the Russian talking points. Wang Yi (INAUDIBLE)-- the foreign minister for example, last Saturday, after his phone call with his reman counterpart, saying to high-lighted Russia's -- legitimated security concerns. And calling on NATOs to abandon it's cold war mentality and again, avoid the -- trying western sanctions as well Anna.
COREN: Steven Jiang, joining us from Beijing, we appreciate the analysis, thank you.
Well, around the world, we're seeing powerful protests and displays of solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
This is Tel Aviv with thousands of Israeli's including many of Ukrainian decent, took to the streets to demand an end to the war.
In Berlin, thousands gathered at the (INAUDIBLE) Park on Sunday to express their outrage over the Russian invasion.
In Madrid, protesters from Spain's Ukrainian committee will wrapped in Ukraine's national colors, yellow while condemning Russia's and these images from rallies across the United States over t he weekend. And these images from rallies across the United States over the weekend.
Protesters gathered in major cities including Chicago, Houston, Washington, and Boston.
Ukrainian Americans and their allies are finding solace in church attendance. One Ukrainian Catholic Church in New York is seeing an increase in attendees from those wanting to pay respects, and others trying to find peace through worship.
CNN's Polo Sandoval has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is St. George, Ukrainian Catholic Church. Church leaders estimating that out of the roughly 5,000 parishioners, about 80 percent of them are Ukrainian immigrants. And we have seen, for the last several days, many of them coming here and uniting in prayer.
Faith certainly playing a massive role for some of the Ukrainian Americans, and we met several of them, including Maya Lopatynsky, who attended Sunday service earlier this morning, talking about that sense of unity that she has seen not just within the church, but around the Ukrainian American community in general. MAYA LOPATYNSKY, UKRAINIAN AMERICAN PARISHIONER: It did, and I think
to see how packed the church was so early in the morning on an 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday, it just made me feel connected to a community. I feel, you know, I'm Ukrainian American, I was born here. To be connected to a community of immigrants and people who are born here.
It just made me feel a lot better. And I do feel like it made me feel like, coming to church is the best that we can do. That's all that we can do right now.
SANDOVAL: And outside of the Sunday Services, we have seen people showing their support with this small memorial that is formed just at the steps of this church.
Also in attendance during Sunday's service was New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan telling the congregation today that he's not only praying for the Ukrainian community statue. But also praying with them as well.
Polo Sandoval, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:54:54]
COREN: Well you are looking at these spectacular Niagara Falls on the U.S. Canadian border lit up in blue and yellow in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and against Russian invasion. Landmarks on both sides of the border have also been lit up in support of Ukraine.
To find out how you can help people in Ukraine, just head to CNN.com slash impact for more information.
Well, thank you for your company, I'm Anna Coren.
Our breaking news coverage of the Russian invasion in Ukraine continues after the short break. You are watching, CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And our breaking news this hour, a 0Ukrainian official telling CNN that Ukraine has intelligence indicating Belarus, a key Russian ally could be preparing to join the Russian invasion.
We're also learning that Belarus has renounced its non-nuclear status now. The new rules could theoretically allow Russia weapons in Belarus.
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