and then you have to keep in mind that you have israel, for example, which appear much operating on an apartheid thing. united states should but the ukrainians are asking for the dome for israel as well. so you have all of these unsavory characters that the west, that ukraine has to deal with, and those alliances are needed, all the while ukraine having to navigate the politics of race of gender of racism across europe, in ways that a lot of eu actors never really had to navigate because these conversations we didn t come up as they did right now for ukraine all while they re asking each of these people like meloni for weapons, and she was the ironic person
there has been a lot of overlapping and mutually reinforcing approaches that were taken with italy. italy is a nato ally, and they are a very competent n.i.l.a. nato ally, and they have been a tremendous supporter of ukraine. they re hosting 170,000 ukrainians on italian soil. history has taught us that necessary allegiances come from unlikely allies. but will america s principals have to be compromised in order to reach a just and moral and in ukraine? joining me now from ukraine, the independent journalist terrell jermaine starr, also with us professor of history ruth ben-ghiat, author of strongmen, recently new to the president. terrell, good to see you. thanks to both of you for being here. terrell, you are in the country right now. you and i were together in ukraine when this so-called counteroffensive began. ukraine seems to be upping the ante right now against russia. but where are we right now?
coming out of this pandemic, again it has been just really remarkable. and it does reflect the biden ministration, this is their strategy. they want to make stuff in america. that s what they want to do. and a lot of economists have views on whether that s a good thing or a bad thing, and we could have that debate, but you ve got to say that s what biden wants to do, and it s happening. it s an important debate to have, whether we should or we shouldn t. i definitely wasn t in the category of people who thinks that we necessarily needed to, but the pandemic did chain my opinion on the fact that maybe more manufacturing needs to be done in more places in the world. but a discussion for another time. betsey, thanks 1 million. good to see you as always. coming up, ukraine s counteroffensive intensifies as a new national intelligence report reveals how exactly china is helping russia in its war on ukraine. that s up next. makes trading easier. with its customizable options chain,
it s interesting you talk about these leaders, meloni, for example, what biden is dealing with a very difficult diplomatic conundrum, i m thinking. i think him trying to galvanize the eu and nato around ukraine, trying to herd cats, essentially. that s the best analogy. these are people who are very diverse viewpoints. you have 1989 germany occupied by russia, and then you have to keep in mind that you have israel, for example, which appear much operating on an apartheid thing. united states should but the ukrainians are asking for the dome for israel as well. so you have all of these unsavory characters that the west, that ukraine has to deal with, and those alliances are needed, all the while ukraine having to navigate the politics of race of gender of racism across
near the ukrainian border. these appear to be acts of an escalating ukrainian counteroffensive. that along with putin s failing attempts to maintain russia s power and influence in africa show the kremlin is in desperate need of help. a newly-released u.s. intelligence report reveals where putin might be getting it from. according to the report, china is providing crucial support for russia s war effort in ukraine by dramatically expanding its purchase of russian oil, gas, and other energy exports, and that beijing is using its financial system to allow russia, quote, to conduct transactions unfettered of western introduction, and quote. the report also says china has become increasingly important buttress for russia and its war effort, probably supplying moscow with key technology in dual use equipment that is used in ukraine, and quote. and as of march beijing had shipped more than $15 million in drones and drone parts to russia.