In this “Face the Nation” show moderated by Margaret Brennan:
- Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Adviser
- Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba
- Kristalina Georgievamanaging director of the International Monetary Fund
- Mohamed El-Erianchief economic adviser to Allianz
- Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer
Click here for full transcripts of “Face the Nation.”
MARGARET BRENNAN: I’m Margaret Brennan in Washington. And today in Face the Nation: the war in Ukraine is getting worse, and leaders around the world are desperately looking for a way to end death and devastation.
On the 18th, the crisis in Ukraine intensifies. During the night, Russian forces fired missiles for the first time in Lviv, a city in western Ukraine dangerously close to the Polish border. Relentless bombings, bombings, missile attacks and atrocities in other key regions of Ukraine have increased.
And there are serious concerns in the intelligence community that Vladimir Putin will introduce chemical weapons in Russia’s bombing of the devastated country of 44 million citizens.
(Start VT)
JOE BIDEN (President of the United States): I will not talk about intelligence, but Russia would pay a very high price if it used chemical weapons.
(VT final)
MARGARET BRENNAN: What would be such a severe price? President Biden maintains that the United States will not send troops, but will continue to defend NATO’s interests in the region.
(Start VT)
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The direct confrontation between NATO and Russia is World War III, something we must strive to prevent.
(VT final)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We will have the latest reports from Ukraine and we will listen to its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba. In addition, we will ask White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan what our options are at this critical time.
We will also analyze the global economic impact of the war in Ukraine. Inflation in the United States, which is already high, is rising again as the invasion of Russia brings down the world oil market. Is the president right when he says it’s because of Putin’s rising prices?
(Start VT)
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Make no mistake, inflation is largely Putin’s fault.
(VT final)
MARGARET BRENNAN: We will talk to the head of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, and Mohamed El-Erian, the chief economist of Allianz Capital. All this and more is ahead of Face the Nation.
Good morning and welcome to Face the Nation. There is no end in sight of the commotion in Russia in Ukraine. The Ukrainian government says that the number of civilian deaths alone is thousands. The President of Ukraine said today that 13,000 Russians had died in the conflict. The United States cannot confirm the death toll.
Today, news of the death of an American journalist, Brent Renaud, killed in a Russian attack in the capital of Kyiv. Our Charlie D’Agata has been reporting from Kyiv since the invasion almost three weeks ago: Charlie.
CHARLIE D’AGATA: Good morning, Margaret. The regional governor said more than 30 cruise missiles hit the base less than 20 miles from the Polish border. It is a military base that has been used by US and NATO partners for training exercises, bringing the West and its allies closer to the fight.
(Start VT)
CHARLIE D’AGATA (voiceover): The overnight airstrike in Lviv is the latest attack in a Russian offensive that has expanded and intensified by the hour. Russian tanks resound on the streets of the besieged port city of Mariupol. There have been no stops in the relentless bombing of Russia.
(Protesters speaking in a foreign language)
CHARLIE D’AGATA: In the west, in Russian-occupied Melitopol, thousands of residents protested in the streets after a video appeared that appeared to show Russian troops kidnapping their mayor. And the Ukrainian government says a second mayor has been kidnapped from the city of Dniprorudne. There is now more evidence that the airstrike that destroyed Mariupol’s motherhood may be part of a systematic campaign.
(CRYING WOMAN) CHARLIE D’AGATA: The World Health Organization has verified 24 attacks on medical facilities since the invasion began. After setting fire to this hospital in Kyiv, they covered the windows and worked with the lights off at night.
MAN: And this building, look.
CHARLIE D’AGATA: Okay.
(CROSSTALK)
MAN: … building.
CHARLIE D’AGATA: Yes. MAN: Upstairs …
CHARLIE D’AGATA: Correct.
MAN: … sniper job.
CHARLIE D’AGATA: A sniper?
MAN: Sniper.
CHARLIE D’AGATA: While we were there, the doctors were saving the life of a lifeguard shattered by shrapnel even as he tried to rescue the wounded. With the Russian advance on the decline, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gathered residents to defend the capital in an overnight speech.
(PRESIDENT VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY SPEAKS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHARLIE D’AGATA: “If they kill us all, then they will enter Kyiv,” he said. “If that’s the goal, then let them come in, but they won’t find friends among us.” It is already a reality in the suburb of Bucha, where the dead are buried in mass graves, a terrifying prelude to what may come.
(VT final)
CHARLIE D’AGATA: Now, the outskirts are being hit hard now. And as Russian forces move to more densely populated areas, the death toll is rising sharply and residents are now risking their lives just to escape: Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Charlie D’Agata in Kyiv, thank you. We are now heading to Odessa, in the south of Ukraine, and our Chris Livesay to see how the Ukrainians are facing each other.
(Start VT)
CHRIS LIVESAY (voiceover): It’s the pendulum of war, first deadly, then deafening silence. In the port city of Mykolaiv, on the Black Sea, the tanks are full, mostly civilians, these victims are in a freezing cold.
(WOMAN SPEAKING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
CHRIS LIVESAY: Among the survivors gather here, under an abandoned market, their childhood interrupted by an invading army, even though they are Russian-speaking, the same people Putin says he wants to protect, says the mayor, Oleksandr Syenkevych.
OLEKSANDR SYENKEVYCH (Mayor of Mykolaiv, Ukraine): I think the main idea is to kill as many Ukrainians as they can. He is a total liar when they say they want to protect us. They want to kill as many Ukrainians as they can.
CHRIS LIVESAY: human obstacles on the way to Odessa, the ancient crown jewel of the Russian Empire and today the largest port in Ukraine. It is a half-deserted city. The half that is still here is steered with anti-tank defenses and optimism, like this soldier, who calls himself Snake.
“For the past 15 days, we have been facing the second largest army in the world,” he said. “He’s weaker than us.” Others fill sandbags where a Russian fleet could float ashore any day. Sergey, a plastic surgeon, is ready to sew combat wounds, even grab guns.
SERGEY (plastic surgeon): Russian nation, look at us. We were a peaceful nation. But we all have a brave heart.
(VT final)
CHRIS LIVESAY: Today, British military intelligence says Russian forces are advancing from Crimea in an effort to dodge Mykolaiv and come straight here to Odessa: Margaret.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Chris Livesay in Odessa, thank you. And here with us now is National Security Correspondent David Martin. David, nice to have you here. This attack overnight in the west, this is the farthest Russia has gone to NATO territory. Why do they do it?
DAVID MARTIN: Well, this is an air base. They hit hangars at the air base. It is the base where American troops used to train Ukrainian forces, but all Americans were withdrawn before the invasion. But it is still where much of the Ukrainian air force is based, especially the MiG-29s we have heard so much about. So now the Russians have attacked three airfields in the west, which is where the predominance of the Ukrainian Air Force. Therefore, it is clear that they are trying to destroy the Ukrainian air force on the ground.
MARGARET BRENNAN: For about two weeks now, the Ukrainians have been keeping Russia in control of the capital. Are they close to encircling it?
DAVID MARTIN: Every day they get a little closer. I mean, you still have to call it a trail or a crawl. And last but not least, the headline made you read this article. The Russians retreated a bit to one of the cities in the northeast of Kyiv that had been isolated. And the Ukrainians were able to reopen the resupply route to that city. So it’s crushing them. But you heard what Charlie D’Agata said, that they … you can hear the bombings getting closer and closer.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Russia, however, is ready to use ammunition that has been banned by international law. We know that. We have heard President Biden warn about the use of chemical weapons. Are we seeing movement of such weapons in Ukraine?
DAVID MARTIN: A Pentagon official I spoke to this morning said that there is no chemical weapons movement in Ukraine. At least they’re not seeing the signs. The concern is that the Russians will seize one of these biomedical research facilities in Ukraine, where they are conducting research on deadly pathogens such as botulism and anthrax, they will seize one of these facilities. They will seize the pathogen and then blame it on Ukraine and the United States. because the US has been supporting some of the research being done on these facilities. But it seems that the Ukrainians have destroyed most of these pathogens.
MARGARET BRENNAN: And it is said that the World Health Organization had been warning about some of that. What you are describing sounds like an increase in acts of despair, but Russia still has considerable fighting power here. Three generals have been reported missing. I mean, how do we judge what’s left?
DAVID MARTIN: Well, they still have something like 90 percent of their combat power that they started in the war with still available. But they are starting to run out of things. Above all, they are beginning to run out of precision-guided weapons. And in the near future, perhaps this week, Putin will have to make a decision on starting to bring in reinforcements from inside Russia, no doubt more ammunition, perhaps more troops. And that, obviously, will be a sign that he continues to advance and duplicate this kind of war that he has adopted.
MARGARET BRENNAN: David Martin, thank you for your report.
DAVID MARTIN: Of course.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Let’s go now to White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Good morning to you, Jake.
JAKE SULLIVAN (US National Security Adviser): Good morning.
MARGARET BRENNAN: There are many advances to be made with you. I want to ask you about these reports that an American journalist has been killed in Ukraine by Russian forces. Do we know what the consequences would be for Russia to kill an American?
NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR JAKE SULLIVAN: Well, that’s obviously shocking and horrible, and I just found out when I got to the show here, so I’ll check with my colleagues. We will consult with the Ukrainians to determine how this happened and then to measure and execute the appropriate consequences as a result.
MARGARET BRENNAN: Jake, there are reports of white phosphorus use in Ukraine, reports of chlorine gas. How imminent is a chemical weapons attack in Ukraine?
NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCILOR JAKE SULLIVAN: We can’t predict a time or a place. All we can say is that there is a growing level of rhetoric on the Russian side, trying …
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