donbas region. >> it seems the only purpose is to fulfill vladimir putin's imperialist i can ambitions of rebuilding the former soviet union. michael, at the center of this crisis is a former comedian, the ukrainian president, volodymyr zelensky. he's a political novice. and you wrote in a recent op-ed for cnn that, quote, if there ever was a time for him to resist stunts and summon up a statesmanlike style of leadership this is it. zelensky gave a powerful speech yesterday in munich before world leaders. how would you rate his performance during this crisis, his leadership? >> sure. well, he certainly has stepped up to the plate, i would say in recent days a lot of ukrainians were telling me -- i just came from kyiv -- is that they were worried about the lack of guidance coming from the presidential administration, but i would like to highlight something president zelensky said that i'm also now leaning