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Fierce Fighting Continues in Ukraine; Ukrainian Forces' Spirit Not Winding Down; Russia Wants to Cripple Ukraine's Army; Vladimir Putin Drags Russia in Quicksand; Refugees Adapt Their Life in Centers; Russian Oil Depot Hit by Ukraine; Sergey Lavrov Meets Indian Counterpart; E.U. Leaders Met Virtually with Chinese Officials; Italy Lifting Its COVID Restrictions; Vladimir Putin Has New Rule for Unfriendly Countries. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired April 01, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause in Lviv, Ukraine.
It is 10 a.m. here in Ukraine where Russian forces are reportedly stepping up their offensive in the last -- in the last eastern region of Donbas. Much of that area has been under the control of Russian- backed separatists, making it difficult to receive accurate information.
Governors in the region report fierce attack from the Russian aircraft, artillery, as well as mortar fire. To the north, the Kharkiv region is also a key target for the Russians. Authorities report a major fire after a gas pipeline was hit.
And shelling in the town of Izyum is described as constant. Meanwhile, Ukraine says Russian troops are no longer in control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant north of Kyiv. Site of the world's worst nuclear disaster fell to Russian troops during the early days of the invasion. And Ukraine's president is warning Russian forces are planning more attacks in Donbas, Kharkiv, and the southern port city of Mariupol.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): They said three or five days. They thought that this would be enough for them to seize our entire state, and it's already 36, and we are standing and we will continue to fight, until the end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ukrainian soldiers who so far have successfully defended the capital of Kyiv say it's their stronger morale and spirit, giving them the advantage over the Russians. But still, life in Kyiv is becoming increasingly difficult for those who remain facing acute shortages of essential supplies. We have more now from Christiane Amanpour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: The first thing you notice approaching the front northeast of Kyiv are the lines of villagers waiting for humanitarian handouts. They receive a bag of bread and basics to get them through these difficult days.
[22:25:05]
"The first week of the war a shell hit us near the greenhouse. We barely survived," says this woman. "We had help from strangers around us. They gave us bread and canned food. We wouldn't have managed otherwise."
No one here knows when this war will end or whether Russia still has designs on Kyiv. The frontline is about a mile away. For now, an uneasy calm prevails ever since the Ukrainian defenders stop the Russian advance here. It was February 28th, they say, day four of the war.
They want to show us how they did it. But first, we have to clamber over the bridge they downed to see the armored column they managed to take out. The riverbank is littered with their skeletons. This was a Turkey shoot, Russian armored vehicles and tanks had come off the road to avoid the anti-tank mines. Only to find themselves unable to cross the bridge and unable to reverse in time.
Ukrainian forces tell us none of the soldiers inside survived. A little further up the road, two tanks have been virtually smelted, blasted almost to smithereens. Forty-year-old Yevgeny (Ph), a veteran fighter proudly tells us, this was his handiwork. "We all here have one role, to keep the enemy off our land," he says.
"First thing they did after seeing the village, they started to shell houses just like that. They didn't see us. They didn't know we were here, so they just started to work on houses. And so, I took the tank in my sights and I fired a rocket. And goodbye to him."
The destroyed vehicles are stamped with an O, the Ukrainian officers here tell us this identifies them as Russian units that entered from Belarus to the north. Oleg is the officer who commanded this operation. "As for now, looking at previous fighting we've had, I can tell you that we are trained better," he tells me. We have stronger morale and spirit because we are at home. They are afraid, but they go because they're made to."
He's been battle hardened ever since the first Russian invasion in 2014. He says his side has enough weapons, ammunition, and determination to win. "I can tell you, I'm almost sure the Russians are regrouping and not retreating," he says. "Besides, we are preparing ourselves to go forward, we're not preparing just to defend here."
U.S. and British intelligence say Putin seems to have, quote, "massively misjudged the situation. And clearly, overestimated the abilities of his military to secure a rapid victory."
And this old lady tells us, "I have seen one war and here we go again. I wish Putin would go away."
The people of this land remain stalwart and the soldiers remain dug in. Hoping they can continue to withstand whatever Putin has in store for them next.
[03:05:05]
Christian Amanpour, CNN, East of Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Earlier I spoke with Daniel Davis, a retired U.S. army lieutenant colonel who has 21 years of active service. I asked him if this now war over Donbas, a war these two sides have been fighting for eight years, what does that mean in terms of a timeline, does it now just drag out this conflict for months, or even longer?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANIEL DAVIS, SENIOR FELLOW & MILITARY EXPERT, DEFENSE PRIORITIES: It's important to understand what the Russian objective is, it's not the territorial capture of the area, it is the destruction of a large formation of Ukrainian armed forces. That's what their objective has been for a long time, that's why they haven't really attacked any cities other than Kherson and Mariupol.
Because those are directly tied with the attempt to surround about a 40,000-member battle force that the Ukrainians opposite to the Donbas. Right now, Russia is trying to blank the Ukrainians on the north and on the south, if they penetrate either one of those, it's possible for them to capture the entire battle force, and that would be a devastating, and possibly lethal blow to the Ukrainians. So, everything depends on Ukraine holding that line.
VAUSE: Russian forces appear to have abandoned the Chernobyl nuclear power plant as well, does that fit in with his focus on the Donbas? Or it is more likely that withdrawal --
(CROSSTALK)
DAVIS: It does.
VAUSE: -- were maybe the result of troops just being sickened by radiation?
DAVIS: I mean, I wouldn't have any way to know whether that was the case, but I do know that militarily, it has -- it has no power and it has no importance to them. So, you know, it's not like they are needing to hold that for anything else. And I think that Ukraine would have to go through several lines of Russians to get there.
What they need though, is to focus on what's going on in the Donbas. Because I think they recognize that everything depends on that. And I think you are going to see them throwing the kitchen sink on this. And it looks like so as President Zelenskyy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, joining me now for more is Carl Bildt, the former prime minister of Sweden. Mr. Bildt, thank you for being with us.
You have publicly said that Putin cannot win this war, but for now he seems to be raising the stakes almost at every turn, he is threatening to shut down gas supplies to Europe today unless they pay in rubles. So, the question is when does he come to the same conclusion that you and many others have?
CARL BILDT, FORMER SWEDISH PRIME MINISTER: I think that's quite some time down the road, I have to fear. I don't think he can win this war. I can see a number of scenarios in which he loses, but he knows that losing means losing big time. Adm for him, that's not an option.
He has said very, very far-reaching objectives for this particular military operation. If you listen to the different speeches, lengthy speeches that he's made, he's made it abundantly clear. He is not going to cave in. He is going to rather escalate until in some sort of way at some point in time he really loses.
VAUSE: You recently tweeted this, I don't think that the problem has been Putin's been misled by advisers, I think he has been misled by himself. That's quite a statement.
BILDT: Yes.
VAUSE: Are you saying that the Russian president is essentially delusional right now?
BILDT: Well, call it delusional if you want to, he has convinced himself of a particular version of Russian history. He has been diving deep down in obscure sources of Russian history. And if you listen to him, or he had listened to his speeches and his activities during the last few, not only months but years, he has been far more interested in the past Russia than the future Russia.
And he thinks that his Russia is in retreat, it has to go on defensive, it has to beat back the absolutely lethal challenge that a democratic Ukraine represents. That's the version of history and the version of this campaign that he has presented in a number of lengthy ramblings, far-reaching speeches. And that is a delusion that he has created to himself and I think he is a prisoner of that particular, call it delusion, and bringing Russia down with him, by the way.
VAUSE: Well, after the Ukrainian president spoke to lawmakers in Brussels, the Belgium prime minister bluntly rejected the idea of a no-fly zone over Ukraine, saying it would escalate this conflict. We've heard that before, but then he added this, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER DE CROO, BELGIAN PRIME MINISTER: NATO is not a party in this conflict. And it should not become one. And I realize this is not the answer that you want to hear. But I believe that you understand the argument. Still, this is a time for us to take sides. That is what Belgium has done, and that is what we will continue to do. We will continue to support Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:09:55]
VAUSE: Can you explain why he is actually saying, because on the surface at least, it seems he is contradicting himself multiple times in a very short statement.
BILDT: Well, it's certainly a matter of definition. From the Russian pointedly, I think they are at war with us. What we have done, I don't know about Belgium, but I assume Belgium as well, but Sweden certainly, and Finland where I'm sitting at the moment, we have supplied the Ukrainian army with quite a lot of weapons and we continue to do that. Weapons and ammunition, and financial support.
From that point of view, we are of course part of this particular conflict. And we have made it abundantly clear that we have a stake in it. If Putin were to succeed with the designs that he has set out, it would be of course lethal to Ukraine. Needless to say. And to millions of people there. But it would be a profound danger to other nations and to the entire structure of the European Atlantic securities.
So, we are part of this particular conflict, and we don't have our army units and we'll not have our units, army unites fighting in Ukraine, but we are supplying the Ukrainian armed forces with everything that we conceivably can.
VAUSE: One country which has yet to choose a side I guess in this conflict is India. The Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov he is beginning talks there at this hour. How crucial is it for the United States and NATO to get India on its side, essentially as a counter way, if you like, to China?
BILDT: I think it's primarily of interest to India itself that it sorts this out. They have a long-standing relationship. It goes back to the Soviet days. They are dependent upon the Russians for the supply of a lot of their armed equipment for their defense forces.
But India adheres to the rules of the international order. And what the Russians have done here is a crime against the very most fundamental principle of international order. That is, you are not supposed to invade other countries. It's a crime of aggression. And I find it surprising to put it mildly that the Indians can be neutral against a crime of aggression.
I mean, if China attacks and tries to conquer parts of India, which might very well happen, does India expect us to abstain in a vote of the United Nations? India expects us to stand on their side. And that I would certainly favor. But why then does India refused to condemn the Russian invasion and aggression? That's somewhat of a mystery to me. VAUSE: The Polish prime minister has spoken about the impact that
international sanctions have had on Russia and how Putin has minimized their impact. Here he is. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATEUSZ MORAWIECKI, POLISH PRIME MINISTER: For the time being, Putin and his people, they were able to change their fiscal policy, monetary policy, financial policy in such a way that they are immune to the sanctions to some extent at least for the foreseeable future, for the next several months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So, do you agree with that assessment, that essentially Putin is immune from the sanctions, and does that mean that the U.S. should rethink their strategy?
BILDT: No, but I think we have to recognize that sanctions is a measure that works primarily in the medium and long term. It has an immediate impact when it's introduced. And there was a financial shock to the Russian system, they managed those particular effect short term. But I mean, the major sanctions are going to be their long term because they are going to severely inhibit the possibility to develop the Russian economy.
If you take just one example, I mean, Putin and Russia, it's very dependent upon the huge oil and gas products up in the Arctic. It's very difficult to see that they can proceed. Denied all of the western technologies, in the way that they would be enough.
So, the sanction effect is substantial but primarily medium and long term in its effect. The short-term effect of our aid is primarily what we can do in order to get weapons and defense equipment and financial support to the Ukrainian state.
VAUSE: Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt, thank you so much. We appreciate your insight, sir, and your experience. Thank you for being with us.
BILDT: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, four million Ukrainians have been made refugees by Putin's war of choice, leaving all they know and all they own behind. But trauma though made a little easier by volunteers who endured similar trauma themselves. That story coming up.
[03:15:00]
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VAUSE: Russia is expected to open a humanitarian corridor out of the hard-hit city of Mariupol today. Mariupol's mayor says 90 percent of the city's buildings have either been damaged or destroyed. Russia agreed to open the corridor after a request from the leaders of France and Germany. A convoy of buses on their way right now to Mariupol to pick up
refugees but there is no word if they have arrived. But this convoy cannot arrive soon enough. Ukraine's president says that Russia is prioritizing military options in the Donbas region.
Many Ukrainians who have fled their homes have headed to Poland, but Hungary has also taken in more than 300,000 refugees as well.
As CNN's Matt Rivers reports that some of them are now learning to adapt to a new life which was unexpected and came suddenly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In the play area of a temporary refugee shelter in Zahony, Hungary, kids sketch out their recent traumas on paper. Burning tanks, drawn on crayon, deadly battles fill out the chalkboard.
[03:20:02]
Just outside that tent, Anmol Gupta can't erase their pain, but he can get one of those kids a stuffed animal, and a smile in the process.
When someone says I'm scared, what do you say to them?
ANMOL GUPTA, INDIAN CITIZEN WHO FLED UKRAINE: Then we tell them what's going to happen next and everything will be OK, so we don't have to worry. Then I start talking with them. So.
RIVERS: Yes. You are good at that.
GUPTA: Yes. Yes. That I know.
RIVERS: A smile he says, goes a long. Anmol is a volunteer having spent the last month just across the Ukraine border helping weary Ukrainians navigate the first few steps of new lives as refugees in Hungary.
The native of northern India is fluent in Russia. A skill honed over his years studying for a medical degree in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine. He was living there when the bombs first started falling. His apartment was destroyed, his motorcycle hit by bullets and shrapnel, and his nights spent in bombshell.
He fled to Hungary but still, he wanted to help. As a foreigner, he says he lost very little while his friends, Ukrainians, have lost everything.
Is that part of the motivation that you had for being here?
GUPTA: Yes. It can be. It can be. Because I have been with them for nine years and it feels like they are also my family.
RIVERS: And he is not the only foreigner once living in Ukraine that still wants to help. Behind kiosk restaurants fancy dining room in Budapest, works a man who just two weeks ago was fleeing from explosions.
Steven Ezeudo works in the kitchen, but in early March he was in Kharkiv. He fled when the Russians attacked.
So, were you scared?
STEVEN EZEUDO, REFUGEE/RESTAURANT WORKER: Yes, I was so scared. So scared. Because when the bombing start it was shaking our building.
RIVERS: He was studying there for a degree in business administration and wants to go back. But for now, he and his colleagues spend a part of their day cooking free meals for refugees.
EZEUDO: At least I'm helping. So, I can give some people food, you know. Some people that don't have anything to eat.
RIVERS: Back at the border, hundreds of refugees are headed in Budapest direction. Anmol picks up some tickets, hands them out, then picks up some bags, and walks people to the train. He has done this every single day for a month now. So, from us, a question.
How long do you think you are going to stay here?
GUPTA: As long as needed.
RIVERS: As long as needed? And when will that be?
GUPTA: No idea. That's the thing. I have no idea. But I believe that there will be some point then people will stop coming.
RIVERS: But that time hasn't yet come. And so, he keeps helping amidst a crowd of people who need it. It's right where he wants to be.
Matt Rivers, CNN, on the Hungary/ Ukraine border.
VAUSE: You too can help the people of Ukraine. They are in need of so much, shelter, food, essential supplies. Please go to cnn.com/impact, and there you will find a number of ways that you can help, and you can show that whatever you give gets to the people who needed the most.
Well, another fuel depot up in flames, but this time it's on Russian soil. Local officials blame Ukraine. The very latest when we come back.
[03:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I'm John Vause, reporting live from Lviv in Ukraine.
A large fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod has been attacked and it's engulfed in flames. Local officials claim it was fired on early this morning by two Ukrainian helicopters flying in at low altitude. CNN cannot confirm that claim.
Belgorod is just across the border from the besieged Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Elsewhere, the U.S. says the Russian military fire now appears to be concentrated on four areas in Ukraine, including the capital. According to a senior U.S. defense official, Russian air attacks have stepped up significantly over the past 24 hours.
Ukraine's president says Russian forces appear to be shifting their focus now to the Donbas region. And U.K.'s military intelligence says that Moscow is bringing in reinforcements from Georgia. Here's more now from President Zelenskyy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENSKYY (through translator): The situation in the southern direction and in the Donbas remains extremely difficult. Russian troops are accumulating the potential for strikes, powerful blows.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, more than six million Ukrainians have now been internally displaced here because of this war. A short time ago, I spoke with Ukrainian filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk who fled Kyiv and with her child for the relevant safety here in Lviv. I ask her how she is coping with her life, which is now been so dramatically upended. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IRYNA TSILYK, UKRAINIAN FILMMAKER & WRITER: This is Russia's war against Ukraine, it's been going on for eight years.
VAUSE: Yes.
TSILYK: So, we've got used to everything, and I was focused on this war during all these years but had never expected that this Russian full-scale invasion could come to my city, too. So, this month it was probably the longest month of my life. And I went through all five stages of grief. At the moment, I accept it.
VAUSE: Yes.
TSILYK: That we are at war.
[03:29:59]
VAUSE: Yes. And you said, I think I read something that you said, it's a bit like a movie. And you are a filmmaker. So, you think it's kind of -- you feel like it's a bit like a movie around you. Almost surreal, I guess?
TSILYK: Yes, but that is our reality --
VAUSE: Yes.
TSILYK: -- and we should face it, and we should resist. You know, all people that I know, most of them are artists, filmmakers, writers. They defend Ukraine on different fields. Right now, some people defend Ukraine with weapons in their hands and others use other tools and weapons like cultural diplomacy or in fulfilled.
VAUSE: There are a lot of people who are opposed to war who don't want to fight here in Ukraine and they are forced to. It's against sort of their nature, but they have no other choice. They are sort of being forced into fighting a war, which is Putin's choice. How does that change people's character?
TSILYK: That is true. I think that Ukrainians they did not want to fight. But what can we do, because if the enemy comes to your home, to your country, you should defend it? For example, my husband, he is a writer, he's author of 10 novels, come on, he is not a military type of people.
VAUSE: But he is (Inaudible) now.
TSILYK: Yes. He used to serve in the Ukrainian armed forces before in 2015, and he needs to do it now. So.
VAUSE: It's just what you have to do? Tell me what was your journey like when you left Kyiv and you managed to finally get here to Lviv. What, three days or something?
TSILYK: I didn't really want to flee from my city because Kyiv is my place of power, right? I'm also the mother, and I'm responsible for our child. So, I had to go to safe. But at the same time, no one knows what is the safe place in Ukraine now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yryna Tsilyk there, Ukrainian filmmaker and writer. Well, right now, diplomacy is picking up momentum focusing on two countries which have refused to join international condemnation of the Kremlin. India is hosting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Talks have now just started.
These images coming in from New Delhi just a few moments ago.
Meantime, China leaders are likely to face blow back from the E.U. which were during a virtual summit set to begin at the top of the hour.
CNN correspondents are closely following both of these meetings. Kristie Lu Stout is live for us this hour in Hong Kong, where Vedika Sud is standing by in New Delhi. But first, let's start with Kristie.
And this virtual meeting, I guess the question is, how much pressure can the E.U. actually put on China, who needs more, who needs the other the most?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, China does rely heavily on trade with the European Union and its ally the United States much more so than Russia, so that is a potential point of leverage going into these talks which will be tense.
You know, this comes amid very rocky relations between the E.U. and China, this high-level virtual summit between these two powers and it's beginning at the top of the hour with a working session first, with the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, and then four hours later another working session, that with the Chinese President Xi Jinping.
On the agenda, you have health, you have human rights, trade, climate change, but E.U. officials they want the focus to be on the war in Ukraine. And namely China's relationship with Russia after the invasion. In fact, in the run up to today's high-level virtual summit, a top E.U. official accused China of giving political support to Russia and its assault on Ukraine.
I want to bring up this statement for you, it's a very strong one, this coming from the head of the European parliament delegation of relations with China, saying the "veil is threadbare, it fools no one. He adds, the way in which China handles this conflict will have bearing on the future overall E.U./ China relationship." Unquote.
A breakthrough is widely not expected to take place as a result of today's summit. Especially as China and Russia reaffirm and doubled down on their pre-war relationship. That was made clear earlier this week.
The Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov had a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi in Tunxi, that's in China's Anhui Province. And Wang Yi gave no indication that China was willing to condemn Russia for its assault on Ukraine.
In fact, there was a very different message that was delivered through the ministry of foreign affairs after day one of that foreign minister meeting. In which we heard from the foreign ministry spokesperson, saying that there is no ceiling, in fact, we'll bring it up for you. He said there is no ceiling for China/Russia cooperation, no ceiling for us to strive for peace, no ceiling for us to safeguard security and no ceiling for us to compose hegemony.
So, the message is clear here. After the invasion, China declaring no ceiling in its relationship with Russia. Before the invasion, at that very high-profile summit before the Beijing Winter Olympic Games between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping when they declared their relationship had no limits. John?
VAUSE: Kristie Lu stout there covering all the basis as always. Thank you for that.
[03:34:58]
Let's go live now to Vedika Sud standing by in New Delhi. That meeting with Lavrov and his counterparts there in New Delhi just getting started. What are we expecting from that?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, that meeting is underway. We have visuals of Lavrov meeting with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India's foreign minister. This is going to be a meeting like I've said before, where all eyes will be on really comes out of it.
Lavrov is also meeting with the Indian prime minister later today. And we are being told by an Indian senior government official who is privy to the preparation for talks between the prime minister and Lavrov. That the Indian prime minister will once again reiterate the need for cessation of violence and hostility between Russia and Ukraine.
Now, you've mentioned this, John, but I'm just going to mention it again out here, India has taken a very neutral stance, it has far from condemned Russia's aggression at key international ports, the UNSC, as well as the UNG. Now there are several reasons for this. One of them being that Russia and India share very special ties, like the two of them have put it in the past. This was evident when Putin came visiting, it was just about a 24-hour visit or less last December.
And if you remember, he barely moved out of Russia due to the pandemic last year. And that once again, reindorsed the relationship shared between Modi and Putin. Now also India heavily depends on Russia for major arms and other defense equipment. Over 50 percent of India's defense equipment comes from Russia.
Also, India is worried about the fact that if they don't have this neutral stand, there could be closer ties between Russia and China in the near future. And China is seen as India's top adversary. We share a border with China.
Now, speaking to national news channel in India, Ukraine's foreign minister has said that he does welcome any kind of intervention by Prime Minister and his government for talks with Russia. Let's listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DMYTRO KULEBA, UKRAINIAN MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: India has its own relationship with Russia, and if they can help, if they can help us to stop this war, which go against the interest of everyone, it's even not in the interest of the people of Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUD: A string of leaders have been visiting India ever since the war broke out. And we've seen the Japanese prime minister speak with Narendra Modi. We have seen the U.K. foreign secretary who was here while Lavrov landed in India along with the U.S. national deputy -- national security adviser, deputy security adviser from the U.S. also visiting.
So, there are a lot of these leaders and top officials who are trying to make their case with India, but India has maintained its stand, it wants to remain non-aligned as long as possible. The pressure is building diplomatically, but India has been very clear on their stand. Let's just see what really comes of this visit with Lavrov and when he meets with the prime minister, we are waiting for more. There is also talk of a possible deal that the two can strike when it comes to oil imports from Russia. As of now, India's imports are less than 1 percent from Russia. And while talking with Liz Truss, U.K. foreign secretary, the foreign minister of India also made a point. He said India has less than 1 percent export from Russia, whereas Europe has ramped up its imports from Russia as far as crude oil is concerned by 15 percent. John?
VAUSE: Vedika, a very busy day for you, at least a busy couple hour ahead. Thank you for that live report.
That's all for me this morning from Lviv. My colleague Kim Brunhuber picks up after a very short break.
And when he comes back, a standoff over gas between Russia and Europe, how the E.U. is responding to Moscow's demands for payment in rubles. We will have that and a whole lot more in just a moment.
[03:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: The International Energy Agency is planning to hold an emergency meeting in the coming hours after the U.S. president announced a record release of 180 million barrels of oil from America's Strategic Reserves.
The agency says it plans to discuss what steps to take to provide stability to oil markets as America's move sets the stage for other nations to release oil as well. Here is Joe Biden's reasons for this historic move.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This is a wartime bridge to increase oil supply and until production ramps up later this year. And it is by far the largest release of our -- of our national reserve in our history. And it will provide a historic amount of supply, for a historic amount of time. A six-month bridge to the fall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: All right, now let's take a look at the oil market looked like in the wake of Biden's announcement. Brent crude down over 5 percent, about $105 a barrel. In the last two months, here have been the big swings from under 100 to $130 and back.
CNN's Nina dos Santos joins us now from London. So, Nina, Europe facing Russian threats of shutting off gas, the possibility of energy rationing, what's the latest?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the latest is its increasingly alarming talks that has caught European bureaucrats on the back foot here, Kim, after the Russian President Vladimir Putin just yesterday in a surprise move signed into law this presidential decree that essentially declared that so-called unfriendly countries.
[03:45:05]
That means countries have sanctioned Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, would have to now start paying for their national gas that they're getting from Russia in rubles and not in the currency that those countries had originally stipulated, as per the contract so they would be paying for this gas in.
And this is prompted also some concerns about a supply shock to Europe, which is increasingly been hugely reliant on Russian national gas. It gets about 40 to 45 percent of its energy needs from Russia.
Now, President Vladimir Putin appeared in a conference, press conference as he was signing into law this decree to acknowledge that this would strain the ties between Russia and its largest customer for gas. But at the same time, you've got to remember his country is also desperate for foreign exchange reserves after a number of the central bank foreign reserves as well are frozen, thanks to international sanctions and.
And he also has to appear to be doing something to push back against that international pressure from sanctions. Here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The western countries have taken their measures and we have responded. I suggest we assume there will not be the same cooperation as we've had in the past with our former partners. We won't shut anyone out, and we won't be a closed off country, but we have to consider the reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOS SANTOS: So, what exactly is Russia proposing here? Well, it's proposing what some people are saying might be something of a compromise. Meaning that as of today, European countries would in theory have to start paying for their natural gas they get from Russia, their biggest supplier, by paying it into a specifically designated account at Gazprom Bank, perhaps in their own currency and then it would be converted into rubles, thereby giving Russia the opportunity of that hard cash from abroad that it so desperately needs.
But this creates a wedge between the United States and the U.K. and the E.U., because the U.S. and the U.K. have sanctioned Gazprom Bank while the E.U. hasn't. Now everybody is looking to big countries like Germany, they get about 55 percent of their gas needs from Russia to find out how exactly they are going to be dealing with this situation.
At an E.U. level as a whole, the German chancellor has been saying just like the president of France, that the E.U. will not be blackmailed over this. But Germany, Kim, has now started to have to move to the first phase of energy rationing, Kim?
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thank you so much, Nina dos Santos. I appreciate it.
Well, many are celebrating in Italy where the government is starting to phase out some COVID restrictions. We'll go live to Rome with how life is changing coming up after the break. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. We've got new developments on the COVID lockdown in Shanghai. Western parts of the city are now under lockdown. It will last until April 5th. The residents aren't allowed to leave their homes.
Meanwhile, parts of eastern Shanghai are still under lockdown for up to nine more days. Official plan on lifting that lockdown earlier on Friday but a surge of infections changes those plans. And in an addition, the city has announced that you have to have a negative COVID test to leave Shanghai. The aim is to keep the virus from spreading to nearby towns.
Well after more than two years, Italy's coronavirus state of an emergency has finally expired. And come May, Italians will be able to enjoy many more activities without having to show proof of vaccination.
I want to bring in CNN contributor Barbie Nadeau. So, that will be a huge relief for Italians. What's the mood there?
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the mood is quite high here. You know, you look at especially the Easter season. Such an important holiday here in Italy, not just for the religious aspect, because for the tourism aspect as well. That's usually been traditionally when tourism starts here. Kicks off the season.
And you know, two years ago, Easter was canceled, a year ago it was heavily restricted. This year people will be able to do what they want and how they want. Italians are really excited about that. They've given a lot, there been a lot of sacrifices economically with their friends, with families so many deaths here.
Nearly 160,000 in this country over the course of the last two years, and people are really excited about putting this behind them, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Right. But Barbie, then if the COVID numbers to get markedly worse, what happens then? I understand that they won't be able to just snap back to those old restrictions.
NADEAU: That's right. You know, the big, -- the biggest aspect of the lifting of the state of emergency is the fact that the government can no longer just automatically institute a new restriction. They can't order a lock down tomorrow, or new mask mandate or curfew, or anything like that. They will have to go through parliament to do that.
If the numbers continue to rise, they would have to reinstate a state of emergency. But nobody sees that in the future. Because this country is heavily vaccinated, and people are very, very careful and very -- even though as of May 1st you won't have to wear masks indoors, the latest surveys show that most Italians are going to carry their masks with them anyway. If they're in a crowded place they'll just put them on.
So, there's a lot of compliance here. Italians are very, very health conscious and they're very, very concerned about going back to where they were. So, everybody is looking forward to going ahead, but the government won't be able to make any moves without parliament from this point forward.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, interesting. Yes. And then, so looking at the rest of Europe, then there is more concern over the growing numbers in many countries. What's the latest there?
NADEAU: Well, you know, we've seen all across Europe the restrictions slowly, slowly being phased out. Italy had some of the, you know, the most strict restrictions. And they are sort of the last ones to be lifting them.
[03:55:04]
But I think you're going to see just people really taking care to make sure that they do get tested, that if they don't feel well, they stay inside. Right now, we don't have quarantines and things like that as of April 1st that people have to worry about unless they actually test positive for COVID.
But across Europe people will not forget how bad these last two years have been. So, despite these restrictions being lifted, I think everyone is still going to be quite careful, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much, Barbie Nadeau in Rome.
Well, I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN Center in Atlanta. I'll be back with more news in just a moment. Please do stay with us.
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