Disputed donbas areas but that ukraine would no longer object to those territories being an russian control. if putin manages to ring that out of the now practically under fire ukrainian government, then without firing a shot, he s gotten from this massive troop buildup what he couldn t get at the negotiating table through the minsk process. and in that way, if you ukraine blink blinks and allows him control of those territories, then this would also rob some of the sanctions that are on russia right now of their legal basis. so, you know, that would be a way of avoiding war. but in the end, that would be the moscow bully getting what he s pushing for which is salami slices territory under russian control without ukraine objecting. okay, michael, very confusing
morning joe. ukrainians are actually taking territory back in the north. in the east, the russians seem to be prioritizing the donbas areas and they re again taking back territory and now we see a city being contested. the ukrainians are trying to call it back. and joining me is pentagon correspondent and retired four-star general, mccaffrey. the u.s. says it s seeing some movement away from kyiv. following the announcement from the russian defense ministry, what does that signal to you? can it be believed? is it a head fake? or is this just that ukraine has done such a good job driving them back and they ll attack elsewhere? first of all, i think the most dangerous phase was conflict termination. you want an outcome where you don t lay down the groundwork