accepted into the western orbit. fully accepted as a democracy and that they could trust that the us, the leader of the west could be there for them throughout the length of this war. ., ,. ., , of this war. fascinating insight. thank you of this war. fascinating insight. thank you very of this war. fascinating insight. thank you very much, - of this war. fascinating insight. | thank you very much, matthew. crossing back not to james who is in kyiv. we had ordered a bit of the assessment of the morale in kyiv. give us a bit of context about this battle in bakhmut and why it matters? , ., , battle in bakhmut and why it matters? , , ., matters? this battle has been going on for over six matters? this battle has been going on for over six months matters? this battle has been going on for over six months now. - matters? this battle has been going on for over six months now. the - matters? this battle has been going on for over six months now. the fallj on for over six months now. t
wolf, and one we re all wonderingch they ve had this opportunity before and it was the secretary of state who approached the russian foreign minister. when the state department spokesperson was asked about this today what ned price said was this was just an opportunity for him to deliver some face-to-face messages. but when we reflect back on the last time that secretary blinken called foreign minister lavrov, that was a call not a meeting over the summer it was when there were some stall negotiations on a prisoner swap exchange the u.s. had put an offer on the table with the russians and the russians just weren t biting. so it does seem like there s a similar situation going on here because secretary of state tony blinken said the u.s. has put a serious offer on the table for paul whelan and the russians haven t positively responded to that. let s hope he comes home soon. turning now to ukraine where cnn s melissa bell is standing by in the capital of kyiv. the battle in bakhmut is
that and the paycheck. tonight in ukraine a possible new strategy in the besieged eastern city of bakhmut. ukraine s military is going to weigh all the options when it comes to defending the city, this includes, quote, strategically pulling back if needed. that s what they call it. earlier today president volodymyr zelenskyy warned the toughest battle in bakhmut. thousands remain, many cut off from humanitarian relief. the fight for the city is one of obviously many problems ukraine faces. also the unexploded mines that litter the lands that ukraine liberated from the russians. cnn s alex marquardt is in eastern ukraine with the dangerous work being done there. reporter: the hulking armored
what shakasveli looked like out front in february of 2015. he s now emaciated and incredibly unwell. it s hard for him to even write. ukrainian president zelenskyy put up pictures in a press conference for the world to see over the weekend, saying he s become killed, quote, little by little. as putin s purge of his enemies continues. let s begin with fred and out front live in kyiv, and fred, what is the latest on the ground there as you see it? hi there. certainly it s the battle for the east heating up here in ukraine. the president of this country had a big meeting with his security team focusing on the battle in bakhmut. they say it s still a big danger. the russians trying to encircle that place and talking about what the ukrainians can do to prevents that. they have been bringing in more forces, more artillery pieces, trying to documenter the russians. they also say they need a lot more ammo to take the fight to the russians in that area. here s what we re learning.