their own drones begin to be whittled away. that s the only hope. if we can get there, maybe we can get to a stalemate. former deputy assistant defense secretary for europe and nato, jim townsend, thank you, and would love to have you back. i was just actually reading through details on you and saw that you actually worked with both of the brzezinski boys. we may have you tell stories about working with ian at the pentagon, and narc mark afterwards. all of those stories they re in the vault. we ll have to declassify them first. thank you very much for being with us. we greatly appreciate it. ahead this hour, we ll speak with an expert on disinformation, who sent her own family out of ukraine so she could stay behind and report on the truth from inside the country. we ll also go live to the white house for the latest reporting on the new expected military aid
what s really being planned behind the kremlin walls? as the troops assemble and the political plots swirl, the west is still left guessing. paul adams, bbc news. evelyn farkas is a former us deputy assistant defense secretary and is in washington now. thank you very much indeed for joining us. let s start with the state department statement advising people to get out of ukraine and to leave the embassy as well. is that to be taken at face value or is that part of the diplomatic chess game? it part of the diplomatic chess came? , , ., , game? it is quite serious, the fact that the game? it is quite serious, the fact that the estate game? it is quite serious, the | fact that the estate apartment is advising their personnel to leave because usually, as you know or you might know, from following the crisis in the past, the state department does not want to alarm the country where the us personnel is our
judgments on is what they re actually doing. i shouldn t say judgments, our expectations, based on what they re actually doing, what we are seeing them do. and they continue, whether there s dissension in the ranks or not, they continue to add to their capabilities if they want to conduct another invasion of ukraine. quick question. you have been listening, of course, to the pentagon press secretary john kirby taking questions from reporters about the topic of the hour here, right, it s been the topic of the month the past couple of months, and that is the tensions between russia, ukraine, the u.s. involvement there with u.s. troops in eastern europe. russia, as you just heard from mr. kirby there, amassing more of its troops on the border with ukraine. over the weekend adding to their capabilities. let me bring in mike memoli from the white house, jim townsend as well, former deputy assistant defense secretary under former
there are orphans that have been taken out of the war zone. joining our coverage, john sipher. also joining us, jim townsend, former deputy assistant defense secretary for nato and europe during the obama administration. with me onset is a steady wingman these days, rick stengel, former top state department official and a an msnbc political analyst. john sipher, my question is for you. does putin care when he sees ukrainian orphans on television, or does that make him happy? john sipher, we got to fix your audio. we can t hear you. i m sorry about that. there we are. start over. it wasn t fair to show that before we came on. i was having to wipe my eyes. i know. but putin doesn t care about that. putin is of a long tradition of russian czars and communist party bosses. he doesn t care about his own people at all, they re just chattel to be used, and he certainly doesn t care about
putting new economic pressure on russia. hours ago, the u.s. and european allies agreed to remove key russian banks from the inter bank messaging system, swift. this is an extraordinary step many have been asking for. that will sever the country for much of the global financial system. the joint statement that the block of countries release still leave some actual technical details, and the specific question lenders that will be cut off from swift, unclear. that said, the commitment to take action, a commitment that just days ago, appear to be off the table, due to european objections, gives us some major insight to how quickly the minds of world leaders are in fact evolving, as they are watching this work take place inside ukraine. joining me now, jim townsend, former deputy assistant defense secretary for europe, and nato, under president obama. also with me, adam smith, international trade partner and former sanctions adviser under president obama. welcome to you, gentlemen. thanks