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Ukrainian Official: Missile Strikes Hit Multiple Cities; Zelenskyy: Ukraine's Goals are Peace and Return to Normal Life; New Round of Ukraine-Russia Talks Set for Tuesday; U.S. Officials Try to Walk Back Biden's Putin Comment. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired March 28, 2022 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:00:00]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London and we are following breaking news coverage of the war in Ukraine. And just ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is nowhere in this large country that is truly safe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Hailstones and rockets. The houses burned down. We barely escaped.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt. Our goal is obvious. Peace and the restoration of normal life in our native state as soon as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since Putin is increasing this attack, since Putin is increasing all the atrocities on the ground, killing innocent civilians, we altogether have to do more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: And we begin this hour with new reports of Russian strikes hitting targets in western and west central Ukraine overnight. With the military reporting at least one missile was fired from neighboring Belarus. That word comes after an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was stepping up missile strikes right across the country. He named several cities that were targeted Sunday night including three to the west of the capital and Kharkiv -- as you can see there on your map -- to the east.

The adviser tweeted that more missiles are pounding Ukraine every day with Russia, quote, carpet bombing the hard-hit city of course, of Mariupol. And these new attacks coming as President Zelenskyy gave an interview to a group of independent Russian journalists. Russia's media watchdog has warned news outlets in the country against broadcasting it. On Tuesday, Russia and Ukraine are set for another round of talks in Turkey. And ahead of that President Zelenskyy says his country is now ready to accept neutral nonnuclear status as he shared his hopes for the latest negotiations. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENSKYY (through translator): Our priorities in the negotiations are known. Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are beyond doubt. Effective security guarantees for our state are mandatory. Our goal is obvious. Peace and the restoration of normal life in our native state as soon as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well meanwhile, Ukrainian forces have pushed back the Russian military in some rural areas outside of Kyiv. But intense fighting had already take a heavy toll, of course, on homes as well as villages. ITV's Rohit Kachroo has a look at a town obliterated by Russian strikes not far from the Ukrainian capital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROHIT KACHROO, ITV NEWS (voice-over): Shevchenko survived. But not much else did. A statue of the Ukrainian poet still stands after almost everything else was wiped out by a Russian airstrike. The library was hit. Residents take the books they might have once borrowed. The town hall was destroyed too. And the shop for kids. And the pharmacy. And even the off license.

Vichy is a village one hour from Kyiv and it tells two stories. The crater reveals the force of Russian might. But there's a story of failure too. More than a month into this war life of sorts carries on. The Russian troops never arrived although plans were laid to stop them getting in.

KACHROO: It looks like an earth quake hit. There is complete destruction absolutely everywhere. But maybe the most interesting thing to see is not the fact place this flattened but the fact it wasn't flattened into submission.

KACHROO (voice-over): In the capital monument is being protected as history is rewritten because met with a fierce resistance Moscow now says it no longer wants to focus on the capital but the Ukrainians don't believe that.

COL. OLEKSANDR MOTUZYANYK, UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): We cannot trust them. At the moment we don't see any withdrawal of Russian troops from certain areas of Kyiv.

KACHROO (voice-over): Because you needn't go far from Kyiv to see the area around it was in Russia's sights until not long ago. And the strategists protecting the capital believe nothing has changed.

Rohit Kachroo, ITV news, Vichy.

(END VIDEOTAPE) [04:05:00]

SOARES: Let's go now to CNN's Phil Black. He joins now from Lviv with the latest. And Phil, we have seen overnight several cities being targeted with missile strikes. This of course as the Ukrainian government warns Russia is trying to, quote, wipe Ukraine off the face of the earth. What more can you tell us about these strikes overnight?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a clear recent trend here, Isa, from late last week. Russian missiles mostly fired from Russian naval ships in the Black Sea and now also we're being told from across the northern border with Belarus targeting support and logistics sites helping Ukraine maintain its military defense. Notably fuel storage sites. That's what we saw here in Lviv on Saturday when the first strikes struck here in the center of the populated area of the city.

And then yes, just overnight northeast of Lviv, a reasonably short distance near the city of Lutsk yet another strike against a fuel storage site. As I say, this has been a clear trend. It started last week. We've counted at least four, possibly more fuel depot sites hit in that time. And in addition to that they've been striking weapons storage facilities and so forth. These are the sorts of sites that Ukraine needs in order to continue fighting off Russia's attack.

SOARES: And Phil, meanwhile, we are expecting to see a restart of diplomatic efforts in Turkey. What are the expectations where you are for the next round of talks here?

BLACK: The expectations are still very low, Isa. No one is expecting a breakthrough on this anytime soon. There has been some talk of optimism and hope and constructive progress, particularly about those issues that Volodymyr Zelenskyy has talked about again today, the idea of neutrality and promising not to join NATO and so forth. It is understood that Ukraine could possibly move and make concessions on those points.

But that said, there are other very important points that Ukraine is not prepared to move on. And that's why you hear Zelenskyy talking about territorial integrity and security guarantees. What that means is he is not prepared to give up any Ukrainian territory, not prepared to recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea or the independence of those eastern breakaway regions as Russia is demanding.

And he is also expecting that any peace deal would include a security guarantee of the sort that would see other countries coming to Ukraine's aid in the event that it would be attacked at some point in the future. There is a lot of progress to make on these sorts of points. And as I say, no obvious room for concessions yet.

SOARES: Yes, and how do you balance of course on that very point, you know, the nonnuclear -- the neutral, nonnuclear but also safeguarding the country, I think that's really important. Phil Black for us in Lviv. Thanks very much, Phil, good to see you.

And still ahead for you right here on the show, President Joe Biden's ad-libbed lines about Vladimir Putin are drawing mixed reactions in Europe. Why some leaders are distancing themselves from those comments. That is next.

[04:10:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SOARES: A few minutes ago, we brought you new reports of Russian strikes hitting targets in western as well as west central Ukraine overnight with the military reporting at least one missile was fired from neighboring Belarus. Well, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia was stepping up missile strikes right across the country. And he named several cities that were targeted on Sunday night including three to the west of the capital -- as you can see there -- as well as Kharkiv to the east.

Joining me now is Malcolm Davis. He's a senior analyst of defense strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. And he's with us from Canberra, Australia. Malcolm, very -- good evening to you. Thanks very much for being with us. Let me start, if I may, with the developments out of Kyiv. We've seen the Russian push there has I think it's fair to say stalled in recent days as that Ukrainian ground forces counterattack. How significant would you say this is?

MALCOLM DAVIS, MILITARY ANALYST: Look, it is obviously the beginning of the end of the first phase for the war for the Russians, which has filed for them. They no longer have the ability to make offensive moves and advances on major cities such as Kyiv. So, what they are doing is they're digging in and trying to regroup, rearm, and reconstitute their logistical support, their supply lines. And I think what we're entering is a period of stalemate and a pause at the operational level, which is the major campaign across the entire country. Whilst the Russians regroup and the Ukrainians essentially carry out a series of counter offenses.

SOARES: So, they are regrouping. Explain to our viewers, Malcolm, how the Russian forces can keep this going. I mean, they don't have swift victory as they perhaps expected. What is their staying power giving this momentum and how low we keep hearing morale is right now?

DAVIS: Look, I think if they dig in, they build up their supply lines they can essentially stay static for a number of weeks. All the while they're bombarding cities with long-range artillery and rocket fire. So, the war doesn't end. It doesn't suddenly become peaceful. It just means that the maneuver elements, the ground forces tanks and so forth are not really going anywhere. The forces are digging in.

SOARES: I mean, from the Ukrainian side, of course, these are gains. But like you clearly pointed out, these are very fragile gains, nevertheless. What do you think, Malcolm, of the idea that's being discussed that Russia's aim here is to split the country into two. So, the occupied and non-occupied territory. What do you make of this idea?

DAVIS: I think that was certainly their aim initially and certainly that's the sort of approach they'll be using in a negotiation over a settlement. That they keep the Donbas. They keep Crimea, obviously and the Ukrainians have to accept that in reserve for the Russians not resuming the war.

[04:15:03]

Now of course, the Russians are likely to resume the war down the track once they've recovered from this failure at the operational level. So, any negotiated settlement is only going to be a temporary pause in this conflict which could pick up again in the spring and summer when the Russians are better prepared. And I think if they do that, if they go in a second time, then they're going to be far more cautious about fairly, shall we say, risky tactics that they've done in this particular phase. They are not do that again.

SOARES: So, when we hear the Russians basically saying we don't have intentions of taking Kyiv, we're not interested in Kyiv. Do you buy that?

DAVIS: No, I don't. I think that from Putin's perspective, he still wants to demilitarize Ukraine. He still wants to move the regime, which is what he calls de-Nazification. And he doesn't achieve that if he essentially leaves the regime -- the Zelenskyy government in power in Kyiv. So ultimately, I don't see this war ending any time soon. And I think we're going into a pause that could last some weeks, potentially some months, going into the northern spring and summer, and then could pick up again.

SOARES: So, for the Ukrainian military then, Malcolm, whilst there is this pause on the Russian side, how would you expect them to move? What would the Ukrainian side be doing whilst there is a pause as the Russians regroup here -- tactically I'm thinking.

DAVIS: Well, two things -- remember that the pause is only for the maneuver forces, the tanks and the armored fighting vehicles in the infantry. The artillery fire and rocket fire is still pounding the cities. So, the Ukrainians still have to respond to that challenge. But at the same time, they have also getting military weapons from the West. They're building up their strength.

And so, it's possible what you could see is a series of counter offenses by the Ukrainians to try to and disrupt the Russian forces and attack their supply lines to make it more difficult for the Russians to resume any offensive down the track. And also, to put pressure on the Russians in any diplomatic negotiation towards the final settlement of the war. So, Ukrainians are going to continue fighting. But they probably don't have the strength at this point in time to decisively force the Russians into a route whereby the Russians literally withdraw across the Ukrainian border.

SOARES: Yes, and I mean, that assault that you mentioned from the air has been pretty relentless. We've seen Kharkiv, Mariupol, I mean, besieged and encircled. What do you expect in terms of these next round of talks? What do you make of what we heard from President Zelenskyy that in order to bring carnage to an end, Ukraine will have, you know, probably have to accept neutral nonnuclear status.

DAVIS: Yes, I think he's in a difficult position. He knows that ultimately the Russians can gradually bring in additional forces and, once again, restart the offensive. And he's depending very much on Western support for -- in terms of military hardware, you know, shoulder-fired weapons like the javelin and stingers and so forth.

But what he really needs is more offensive capabilities, which is why he's calling for tanks and why he's calling for aviation support. And he's not getting that. And so, he's now been put into a difficult position in negotiations. Whereby he kind of has to work towards a least worst outcome in terms of avoiding essentially the country being divided in two. And I don't think that this negotiated settlement is ultimately going to work. Because I do think that Putin ultimately wants to remove the Zelenskyy government from power. So, I don't see this negotiation ultimately leading to an end to the war any time soon.

SOARES: Malcolm Davis, I really appreciate your insight. Thank you very much for joining us. Malcolm Davis joining us from Canberra, in Australia.

DAVIS: Thank you.

SOARES: Now, U.S. officials are trying to walk back U.S. President Joe Biden's fiery remarks -- remember -- about Vladimir Putin on Saturday. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: And Mr. Biden's off-the-cuff remark delivered at the end of his visit to Poland -- if you remember -- and sent shock waves around the globe. The White House quickly qualified that he was not calling for regime change in Moscow. And others Biden administration officials echoed those comments on Sunday as did the U.S. President himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, do you want Putin removed? Mr. President, were you calling for regime change?

BIDEN: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Well, Mr. Biden also called his Russian counterpart a butcher. French President Emmanuel Macron's reaction to that very common.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): I think we must keep to the facts and do everything to not escalate things.

[04:20:00] I wouldn't use this type of wording because I continue to hold discussions with President Putin. What do we want to do collectively? We want to stop the war that Russia has launched in Ukraine without waging war and without escalation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SOARES: Let's get more on this. Were joined now by CNN International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson from Brussels. And Nic, good morning to you. As we heard President Macron there kind of suggest, Nic, that perhaps a gap between the U.S. position and the EU position vis-a-vis Russia. What's your read of this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, going into this, the United States said it would pursue diplomacy with Russia right up until the last moment when Russian forces crossed into Ukraine. That was going to be their deadline.

The language President Macron is using at the moment is, he will continue using and pursuing diplomacy right up until the last moment. And his last moment hasn't arrived yet. He is more willing, it appears, to be actively engaged in pursuing diplomacy with President Putin and President Zelenskyy. Indeed, of all the European Union leaders, he is the one that's had the most calls with President Putin and President Zelenskyy. Far more, for example, than President Biden has had.

President Macron is positioning himself really as the leader of -- the diplomatic leader, if you will, of the European Union at the moment. A position vacated by Chancellor Angela Merkel when she was replaced by Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently. President Macron is trying at the moment to get an agreement for a humanitarian exit of up to 150,000 people from Mariupol. Something he has been organizes with Turkish and Greek authorities.

So, his sort of diplomatic overtures at the moment with President Putin have borne little success. But is -- what he is aiming to do in the interim before trying to bring in overall cease-fire, an end to hostilities, is at least aid the humanitarian situation. And this is why I think we are hearing from President Macron saying that he wouldn't use the sort of language President Biden is using. That he wants to continue the conversations with President Putin and anything that detracts from that and potentially escalates the war is not in anyone's interest.

And it does -- as you say -- sort of highlights the position between the European Union and the United States where the larger, sort of bigger states within the European Union, bigger nations, are more concerned about the impact that the war is having on them. And they feel that the United States doesn't get the same impact, either from, you know, shortages of energy, of gas and oil, and also doesn't feel the same impact as the number of refugees arriving. And that massive task of helping look after all the refugees, despite the fact that President Biden came here and announced the United States would take 100,000 refugees.

So, these are the differences that exist. The unity has been good. We can expect the Kremlin to exploit any gaps they see.

SOARES: On Macron, though, Nic, why do you think he's so optimistic? I mean, he says apparently, he's got Putin's ears. But they've met on numerous occasions and their meeting has yielded very little results. Why is he so optimistic that something may come out of this?

ROBERTSON: President Macron typically, in his international diplomacy has been optimistic. He was optimistic when he tried to forge a relationship with President Trump. And that really eventually went down the drain. It didn't go anywhere. He was optimistic when he went to Moscow in the weeks before the war. And a couple of weeks before the war he had a five and a half hour meeting with President Putin. They had a press conference. And then they had another hour pull aside. And President Macron is, it seems, in a position of trying the most optimistic tactics and going for the best possible outcome.

But we did hear disappointment from his office after those talks and subsequent conversations with President Putin. Didn't work out. So, he starts out optimistic but is often -- his aspirations are tempered by reality.

SOARES: Yes, important context there, Nic. And of course, there's the French election this year. So that's also worth bearing in mind. Nic Robertson for us in Brussels. Thanks very much, Nic. Good to see you

Well, Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. had no problem at all about President Biden's remarks about Vladimir Putin. Oksana Markarova spoke earlier with our Dana Bash and said the Russian president is a threat to democracies everywhere. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[04:25:00]

OKSANA MARKAROVA, UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: The reason why Putin attacked Ukraine is, of course, because he wants to eliminate us as a free democratic neighbor, but it's also because he hates everything that is democratic. that he would like to destroy anything that is not autocratic and that cannot be occupied.

So, it's up for all of us to understand that we have to stop it. And in order to stop it, we have to -- we never asked the boots on the ground. But we ask all the civilized countries to provide us with all the tools necessary in order not only to defend us, to defend Europe, but also to stop it and stop this war.

DANA BASH, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH: The president, President Biden, said that Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power. The White House walked it back, as you saw, saying the U.S. does not support regime change. What's your reaction to this?

MARKAROVA: Well, it was a great speech of President Biden. He clearly said that U.S. is and will be with Ukraine in this fight. And we really appreciate it. And we would like everyone to be with us in the most possible ways. Now, we all understand, and we see it, and say -- I would like to

thank all journalists for spreading the truth and showing for what it is. It's a brutal aggression of a neighboring country of a peaceful neighbor that never posed any threat, unless being democratic is a threat.

Russia attacked us in 2014. They started full-fledged war 33 days ago. They are killing civilians, killing children, destroying our hospitals, you know, civilian infrastructure, residential homes, everywhere. It's an act of war criminal. That's why we have opened investigation in Ukraine. That's why Ukraine submitted all the application to all international courts.

And, yes, Vladimir Putin, together with everyone, every Russian that is responsible for it, will have to end up in jail for these war crimes. So, yes, he has nothing to do to lead a state, if Russia would like to be a democratic or even a civilized state.

BASH: So, you're saying that there should be regime change?

MARKAROVA: Well, you know, it's clear to us that Russia is a terrorist state led by a war criminal. And we are working day and night and fighting fiercely to defend our land and to defend our democracy. And everyone should be brought to justice. So, I think it will be difficult to run a state from The Hague.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: Ukraine's ambassador to the U.S. there.

Well Ukraine's president grants an interview to independent journalists in Russia. When we return, a live report on what Volodymyr Zelenskyy said and how the Kremlin is reacting. That is next.

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