Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: Biden Visits Warsaw After Historic Trip To Kyiv; Russian President Delivers State Of The Nation Speech; Putin Suspends Russia's Participation In Nuclear Pact With U.S.; China: "Deeply Worried" Ukraine Conflict Could Spiral Out Of Control; Strong Aftershocks Hit, More Buildings Collapse; U.S. President Biden Meets With Polish President Duda. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired February 21, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:42]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead, U.S. President Joe Biden is in Poland due to give a major speech on his view of the war in Ukraine. Comes just hours after another major speech Vladimir Putin laid out his starkly different worldview blaming the west for the conflict.

And a large aftershock hit Turkey only weeks after that massive quake killed tens of thousands. We're live on the ground view.

U.S. President Joe Biden is in Warsaw, a day after his historic visit to Kyiv. He's meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda right now at the presidential palace. We have just seen the two shaking hands ahead of their meeting, and it's just a few hours away that Mr. Biden will deliver that crucial speech where he's expected to rally support for Ukraine ahead of the one year anniversary of Russia's invasion.

CNN White House Reporter Kevin Liptak joins me live from Warsaw. We've already heard Putin's speech. So do you think there will be a response to that to some extent in what we hear from Biden?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, I think it will be impossible to read into what Biden is saying is not a response to President Putin. We did hear from the National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan earlier today, who tried to make the point that this was not sort of a head-to-head speech.

They didn't time it to coincide with President Putin's speech. They won't be in what he called a rhetorical contest. But really the underpinnings of this moment are hard to ignore, this extraordinary split screen between these two men with extraordinarily different visions of the war in Ukraine and sort of the world at large.

And we will hear President Biden kind of rebut the message that Putin delivered in his speech, which was that the west was to blame for the war in Ukraine. We can expect President Biden to push back very forcefully on that concept in his speech from Warsaw today. But also try and make the point that this war is taking place in a larger context, this context that you hear him talk about all the time of autocracies versus democracies. And he'll try and sort of frame the stakes of the war in Ukraine around that idea.

He has been wanting to deliver this speech for quite a long time, and he really wants to build on a speech he delivered 11 months ago from here in Warsaw, actually from the same castle where he'll speak today. And remember, Max, that was the speech where, at the very end, he outlived that line that Putin cannot remain in power. Of course, Putin remains very much in power, as we saw today in the speech.

And U.S. officials do see this as a critical moment in the war in Ukraine. And President Biden in this trip to Europe, really does hope to emphasize that Western unity remains unbowed one year into the war. And that is something that he'll emphasize in his meeting with the Polish President Andrzej Duda, which is underway now. They are meeting one on one.

President Biden will want to talk to him about Poland's essential role as sort of a logistics hub for the billions and billions of dollars of military assistance that's making its way into Ukraine. But also want to talk about the refugee situation here. Of course, Poland has absorbed so many refugees from Ukraine fleeing that country as the war rages on. So those talks are underway now.

Now, tomorrow, President Biden will also meet here in Warsaw with the leaders of nine other countries, NATO countries along the eastern flank. So, clearly, regional security, a commitment to the NATO allies, all of that President Biden's message as he continues this trip in Poland. Max?

FOSTER: Kevin, thank you. Back with you as we get the results of that meeting and any statements to the cameras gathered there.

The Russian President Vladimir Putin was delivering that State of the Nation speech ahead of the first anniversary of what he calls Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Addressing both houses of Russia's parliament and military commanders, Mr. Putin claimed that the operation was necessary to defend Russia and its identity, accusing the Ukrainian government of serving the interests of, quote, western masters. He also said that the west wants to extend the conflict in Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[08:05:07]

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): They're responsible for the escalation of the situation in Ukraine, for the huge numbers of casualties. And of course, the Kyiv regime is essentially alien to the people of Ukraine. They are not protecting their own interests, but those of their minder countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Let's bring in CNN Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen, he's in Moscow. We've heard a lot of this before. He's really doubling down, isn't he, on his view of who started this war? One relatively new piece of information, though, was this idea that he's walking away from a nuclear arms control agreement. It's the last remaining one, isn't it?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I wouldn't say walking away. He said he's suspending Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the United States and Russia. He did say that that treaty could come back into effect in the future, though. So certainly, he is giving himself at least the opportunity to walk back on what he has said today.

But certainly, it is a fairly big step on the part of the Russians. Obviously, that treaty, the Start Treaty, is one that's very important because it limits the amount of offensive nuclear weapons that both sides can deploy and also allows for verification of that. Which means, for instance, that U.S. inspectors could go to Russian sites, Russians could go to U.S. sites.

And I thought one of the things that he touched on in that, Max, was actually really, really important is he said that, look, the U.S. he believes, or the west is helping the Ukrainians strike bases in Russia, and then the U.S. wants to inspect those bases as well. He said that that was something he thought was, quote, nonsense.

So it does seem as though the Russians are a bit nervous about the capabilities of the Ukrainians to hit some of those spaces where the Russians have their strategic arsenal, certainly their nuclear capable strategic arsenal. One of the things that you'll remember is that last year, there was a strike on a Russian air base called the Engels Air Force Base in southwestern Russia that the Russians said had been conducted by the Ukrainians.

The Ukrainians never formally admitted to that, but it's sort of -- it's pretty clear that they do appear to be behind it. So Russia now suspending that treaty. It's a pretty big step, certainly one that could be reversed. That treaty actually does run until 2026. But that was really the biggest news out of what we heard today from Vladimir Putin.

However, one of the things that I'll also say, Max, is it was quite interesting to hear Vladimir Putin speak about the fact that Russia, as he put it, will persevere, that Russia is not backing down in all of this. But Vladimir Putin not talking very much about what's been going on on the battlefield and how he evaluates Russia's situation on the battlefield.

Of course, we know it has been difficult for the past couple of months. Certainly, he remained quite vague there. Nevertheless, what we saw today was a Russian leader rallying the population. And one of the things that we've done, Max, is we've actually spoken to one of the top pollsters here in Russia, and he says Vladimir Putin's approval ratings right now are at about 80 percent.

So, clearly, while a lot of people internationally feel they have heard all this before, they obviously don't agree with a lot of what Vladimir Putin said. Certainly, there are a lot of Russians who remain very much behind their president. Max?

FOSTER: OK, Fred, thank you for joining us from Moscow.

China says it's deeply worried about the situation in Ukraine spiraling out of control. The Chinese foreign minister spoke about the conflict at an opening -- of a security conference in Beijing. His remarks come as China's top foreign policy adviser arrives in Moscow. The U.S. says that Beijing is considering providing lethal military aid to Moscow.

CNN's Marc Stewart has been monitoring the situation. He joins us live from Tokyo. The Chinese perhaps lining themselves up in a mediating role as well. That's what some people are suggesting.

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Max. And it's interesting. I was listening to some of our colleague Fred Pleitgen's earlier reporting. There are so many similarities, so many parallels in the messaging that we are hearing from Moscow and now Beijing. In fact, China is now declaring blame on this conflict to NATO and to the U.S.

In fact, China is not only avoiding any condemnation of Russia, it's actually avoiding using the term war. In fact, it refers to what's happening in Ukraine as, quote, a special military operation. Take a listen to some remarks from earlier today from Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QIN GANG, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translation): We urge certain countries to immediately stop fueling the fire, stop shifting blame to China, and stop hyping up Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: Interesting how he brought Taiwan into this discussion. So we have Russia, we have United States, and now we have this backdrop of China's first or China's top foreign minister arriving in Moscow.

[08:10:04]

There are reports from China -- from Russian state media, that Wang Yi has now arrived in Russia. And a meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, Max, is not off the table.

FOSTER: OK, Marc, thank you. We'll keep watching that.

Let's get some perspective now on how Ukraine is viewing these rapid developments. Putin's speech, the U.S. presence surprise trip to Kyiv. A lot to fold in, Clare, but in terms of optics, it's sort of what you'd expect, isn't it, the big, you know, western power in Ukraine one day, in Poland the next speaking about NATO?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, I think in that sense, Ukraine's longer term goals of sort of taking its place in the western world order, they are achieving that. Even though the short- term goal, of course, winning the war against Russia, they haven't achieved yet. They are being quite dismissive, I think emboldened, of course, by President Biden's trip to Ukraine, dismissive of Putin's speech.

And adviser to Zelenskyy, Mykhailo Podolyak, says that Putin demonstrated irrelevance and confusion at the head of the presidential office, saying they're at a strategic dead end. But obviously, Ukraine does need this support. We're getting more evidence today of the way that their resolve is being tested on a daily basis.

A pretty major attack on the city of Kherson. Max, six civilians were killed, 12 injured. The Southern Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces says that residential areas, a kindergarten, a hospital, were all shelled. A local market and transport stop is where we're seeing images coming out of that scene.

Six civilians killed, as I said, 12 injured. President Zelenskyy saying in response to that, the world has no right to forget for a single moment that Russian cruelty and aggression knows no bounds. So I think, look, we have not seen Ukraine have a morale problem in this battle. They have been very clear about their goals from the beginning.

But I think as they prepare for a Russian offensive, potentially in the east, it might already be in its early stages as they continue to see other areas of the country get hit. This show of support has come at a very useful moment for the country.

FOSTER: OK, Clare, thank you very much indeed.

Still to come, the U.S. and Russian president's giving competing speeches then on the world stage. Ahead, Vladimir Putin pushes his propaganda accusing the west of starting the war in Ukraine. We'll have more on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: In the face already suffering, fear once again gripped the Turkey-Syria border region on Monday. This was the scene as several strong aftershocks rocked an area still struggling to dig out from that terrible outbreak on February the 6th. One of the aftershocks had a magnitude of 6.3, strong enough to bring down some already damaged buildings.

At least six people were killed and hundreds were injured in those aftershocks. Nada Bashir is in southern Turkey, joins us now live. And what a horrible situation for them all to be in. But a lot of the buildings were already ruined, so you didn't see the same kind of destruction as the first time around.

[08:15:14]

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: No, it's certainly not the same level of the destruction, although the authorities are still assessing the scale of the impact of this latest aftershock had. Just to give you a sense, I mean, those living in southeast Turkey have been experiencing these aftershocks every single day since that significant earthquake hit two weeks ago. But this was the biggest and it certainly gave everyone in this region a real shock.

We're in Adana, which is about 70 miles away from the epicenter in Defne in Hatay province, which was among the hardest hit provinces by that earthquake two weeks ago. And we certainly felt the tremor here and just the people around us, you could sense the fear of families moving into the hotel lobby for fear that they may have to make a swift exit.

And, of course, there has been destruction in parts of this region in Defne, where this, of course, was hardest hit and hardest felt. We have seen some buildings which have collapsed. The authorities are calling on people, warning them not to enter any of the buildings damaged in the previous earthquakes, a fear that they may still collapse after this aftershock.

And we have seen already the number of people being injured rising, at least 294 injuries reported by the authorities. Among them 18 people with serious injuries. And in fact, since last night, we have also seen that death toll rise, a further three people, bringing the death toll to six following this aftershock.

But, of course, this is a region which has already been through so much, so much devastation, so much lost, a death toll topping 41,000 since the earthquake this month. And so, of course, the fear is difficult to explain and the authorities have committed to rebuilding this region within a year. But it is hard to get a grasp on the actual extent of the destruction which spans a vast amount of this region.

They have said that they will continue with those efforts, plans and underway for 30,000 apartments to be constructed, or at least to start the construction by March. President Erdogan today addressing this latest aftershock saying that those rescue teams are on the ground to support those impacted. Around 6,000 tents have been sent to set up there in the affected regions in order to house people temporarily.

We're already beginning to see families being evacuated from the southeast region into other parts of the country, including Istanbul, but this is going to be a long process. There is a long way ahead for the Turkish government in terms of providing that humanitarian support.

The call for international support continues, and we've already heard those pledges of support from the United Nations now appealing for $1 billion in aid, as well as the United States which has already pledged around $185 million to both Turkey and Syria.

And of course, it is important to remember the impact that this has had in Syria, that aftershock that we felt last night at around 08:00 p.m. local time, noon Eastern time. Was also felt in other parts of this region, including Syria, where there have been injuries reported.

And as we continue to see these aftershocks taking place, I mean, we've been tracking this on various apps. We're still seeing smaller aftershock taking place -- FOSTER: OK, I'm sorry to interrupt Nada. We're going to cross Warsaw

because we've got new pictures coming in. The U.S. President has been meeting the President of Poland. Let's see how that meeting looks.

ANDRZEJ DUDA, POLAND PRESIDENT (through translation): On behalf of myself and the entire Polish delegation, but also on behalf of the entire Polish society and all those present in our country. All guests, all our friends and neighbors from Ukraine, I would like to thank you for yesterday's visit to Kyiv. It was spectacular indeed. A very strategic and very political move. Very crucial indeed.

That was a political signal, especially for Ukraine, of course, to a large extent. It has boosted the morale, I'm convinced about that, the morale of the defenders of Ukraine and all those who today decide about the defense of Ukraine, like my friend President Zelenskyy and his team.

But that was also an extraordinary gesture shown to our allies within NATO and generally people standing on the side of the free world and the entire global public opinion. Also, it was a signal to those who violate international rules, who invaded a sovereign and independent state that is Ukraine, who are bombing houses, who are destroying the infrastructure which is used by people for their everyday lives.

I'm thinking here, unfortunately, about our European neighbors. I'm thinking about Russia. I'm thinking about Russian authorities, about President Putin, who almost one year ago decided to attack a free, independent, and sovereign country on a full scale. He carried out that full scale attack.

[08:20:04]

Because the first attack against Ukraine was carried out in 2014, as a matter of fact, however, eight years. Vladimir Putin decided to attack Ukraine on a full scale, causing a tragedy and a catastrophe for millions of the inhabitants of Ukraine. And causing a huge crisis, both a crisis of security and economic crisis all over the world and also a humanitarian crisis.

And thus, he doomed millions of people to tragic fate. Those people had to flee from their country, from bombs, from murders, from rapes, from murders, from horrible, brutal and bestial treatment from Russian soldiers, unfortunately.

So, having said that, thank you once again for your visit yesterday, Mr. President, because that was a significant sign for all those people, the sign that a free world has not forgotten them, that a free world and its biggest leader, the President of the United States, tends by them.

So I know that perfectly well, Mr. President. I know how big courage it requires. Thank you very much for that. I can imagine it was not easy, especially for all those who are responsible for your security, sir. So please pass my gratitude to them from me.

They're standing somewhere in the background, but still, that was the hard work that they were doing. So thank you, Mr. President, for that decision.

We are delighted to host you in Poland. This is also a crucially important sign to us, a sign of security. Tomorrow we will meet with our allies from the eastern flank of NATO because to all of us, this visit is crucially important. It is a symbolic visit here to our region. We are seeing it not only as a visit paid here in Poland, it is a visit to our region, combined with a visit to Kyiv. It sends a very powerful message of responsibility which the United States of America carries constantly, the responsibility for the security of Europe and the world.

The United States, which has demonstrated on multiple occasions its responsibility for European matters during the First World War, during the Second World War, during the Cold War. Every single time they restored the democratic rules, every time the United States had brought back freedom, people were able to restore their freedom. And sometimes after 10 of years, as it was the case in Poland in 1989.

Thanks to the movement of solidarity, of course, here in Poland. Thanks to the determination of the people. Thanks to the influence exerted by St. John Paul II, whom we admire so much. But we know perfectly well this was brought about thanks to a very decisive American policy conducted by the U.S. authorities, by President Ronald Reagan.

And at last, the evil empire collapsed. The Berlin Wall collapsed as a result, and we regained our freedom. So all of us were looking at what you did yesterday, and we believe that America is able to maintain the global order, to guard the global order and to show all the aggressors who want to destroy others people's lives, who want to take control of other countries, who want to enslave other nations.

It shows that there is no acceptance of the democratic community, represented by the United States of America to such behavior, to such acts. Thank you for that, from the bottom of my heart. As I said, it sends a very important signal to us, to us, the Polish people.

Your presence, Mr. President, is extremely important from the perspective of the security. We are delighted that you will give your speech, Mr. President, here in Poland. We are delighted that this message will be sent from here of you, sir. A message address the whole world, because I'm sure that the whole world is going to follow your speech.

Thank you for this decision. We are very glad with it.

On the one hand, it proves how it is important for the United States, how our part of Europe is important to the United States from the allied perspective, but also to us. It is, to a certain extent, a confirmation that we are doing the right thing. The actions which we have been taking recently visited Ukraine, by supporting Ukraine, by sending weapons to Ukraine, by helping Ukrainians, by supporting them in all different ways.

It is proof that this is the right path. It is approved that we are supported in this respect by the United States. We also try to give the support to our neighbors. And we are trying to be not only the ones who are-- who have got the security guaranteed by the United States and NATO. We try to be the ones who are providing the security to other states, to the Baltic states, where we are part of the air- policing mission.

[08:25:02]

We are providing the security to our allies from Romania, where Polish soldiers are deployed as part of NATO contingent. In Latvia, our soldiers are stationed there as well, and our tanks also are guarding the security of Latvia. So, simply said, we are trying to demonstrate allied solidarity.

Having said that, I'm even more grateful, Mr. President. Thank you for paying this visit here in Poland, because I believe that the Polish people see it also as an appreciation of the contribution that we have made in the construction of the security in our part of Europe. And we are delighted to be able to host you here today, Mr. President.

This also is a powerful signal to the global and American investors. Your presence, sir, your speech, sir, that it proves that Poland is safe and secure. It's a country where you can safely come from the other side of the globe. These distances do not seem to be that much.

Some people might think that this is a dangerous place, but Poland is safe and secure. Thanks to the presence of the U.S. Armed Forces. Thanks to the presence of NATO troops, and also thanks to our efforts to reinforce Poland security, Poland's defense capabilities. We are implementing all of that. And we're happy, Mr. President, that your presence here is a visible sign of this presence.

Recently, we were talking, speaking to our allies in Europe. I did it during my meetings, which I had in London and also at the Munich Security Conference. I was saying that these developments and this unique role -- which is being played through you, sir, by the United States -- shows in a very clear way that a transatlantic bond is of key importance to Europe.

We're here together with the Polish Prime Minister attending this meeting. The Polish Prime Minister, who is the head of the government, and, by this function, he has in his hands the responsibility for the parliamentary majority today.

In 2025, Poland will take over the presidency in the European Union. So we want and we will pass a special resolution in May this year. We would like that this resolution marks the anniversary of our presence in the European Union.

We would like our presidency to be conducted under the motto of tightening transatlantic bond, want more America and Europe, stronger bonds between the European Union and the United States, more cooperation between the European Union and the United States in economic matters and security-related matters, all which is so important to us.

This difficult time which we are experiencing in Europe right now and this extraordinary role played by the United States is an absolute demonstration of the fact that this is of key importance to the security and to the future development of our continent.

So, we in Poland have made a lot of experiences over the last centuries in our history and especially over the last 100 years in our history have no doubt about that. So, Mr. President, once again, we are delighted. And a warm welcome to you, sir.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, Mr. President, thank you very much for that welcome. And any excuse to come back to Poland, I take advantage of. The welcome has always been extremely generous, and I appreciate it. And -- so thank you for inviting me back to Warsaw at this critical moment.

You know, you mentioned John Paul. I think I told you the story. When I was a young senator, I wrote a report and had a very senior staff member on the Foreign Relations Committee who was -- and that was a committee -- the next youngest person on that committee was 32 years older than me.

And I came back from Europe, and I wrote a report saying that Poland would be free within a matter of a year. And my chief of staff then said, "Please don't write that because you're going to look foolish." And I got a phone call from John Paul, asking whether I'd meet with him.

And as a practicing Catholic, I joked with him that he was more conservative than my views were. And I went to see him, and we finished the conversation, and it was all about Poland. He never once mentioned anything about Catholicism.

No, I swear. It was a true story. And we were walking from one end -- if you've been to the Papal Library, it's about as wide and as long as this room, with a simple desk at one end and nothing much else.

And as we -- he said, "Would you like a photograph?" And I said, "Sure, Your Holiness, I'd like one." And we were walking from the desk to the other end, we were having a photograph. And he put his hand under my arm, and he said, "Senator, remember, today I spoke to you as a Pole -- a proud Pole. Not as your Pope, as a Pole."

So, I realized the power of Poland all across the board.

Look, all kidding aside, I -- that happens to be a true story.