look, the only strategy that makes any sense here is to raise the cost for putin, and you can raise them in two of three different ways. but the most potent one by far is going to be the military costs of arming ukraine, giving them weapons is what is already achieved this extraordinary resolve which is that russian plans are entirely thrown in disarray. you can already see the impact of ukraine s resistance on demands. we have good reporting what is going on on negotiations and it s clear the russian demands are moderated. the russians thought they d take ukraine within a day or two or week or so. it been two weeks and u.s. estimates are that russia lost five, 6,000 soldiers.
as well as military costs. but russia has faced fierce resistance, its forces are spread thin, and it s not always been able to keep territory it has taken, so that may be an ambition too far. still to come on the programme: who might own this super yacht that ukraine wants seized before it sets sail? find out later. applause i m so proud of both of you. let there be no more wars or bloodshed between arabs and israelis.
0ne western official today said it remains a prime military objective for moscow. there has been concern there could even be an amphibious assault from the sea, where russia has assembled dozens of vessels, but an attack from the sea would be hard, unless there was also a move from land towards the city. so let s look at the south east now. we have heard a lot about mariupol. you can see the importance of the city because it would give russia a land bridge between the east and crimea if they were able to seize it. russian forces, seen here in red, have encircled the city and have started to go in. and the devastation has been pretty terrible, with some estimates putting up to 90% of mariupol destroyed. so the russian ambition may be to seize the whole of the south, leaving ukraine landlocked. that would impose economic as well as military costs. but russia has faced fierce resistance, its forces are spread thin, and it s not
would leave ukraine landlocked and that would impose real economic as well as military costs on the country. but that does seem ambitious because russian forces have taken heavy casualties and were met with fierce resistance. they ve not always been able to keep some of the territory they have taken, and so that may be a step too far. jane. gordon, thank you very much. now, we will take a look at some strays away from ukraine in the coming minutes, right now, we will start with a look at all the latest sports news. gavin has that class. we ll start with tennis and the news that rafa nadal faces a race against time to be fit for the french open. the spaniard will be out of action for between four and six weeks with a stress fracture of his rib. australian open champ nadal suffered the injury in weekend s indian wells semi final against carlos alcaraz. nadal went on to lose in the final to taylor fritz, but had difficulty breathing, and complained of dizziness.the 21 time grand slam ch
president biden heading into the new year with a sharp warning to russian president vladimir putin not to invade ukraine. i made it clear to president putin that if he makes any more moves and goes into ukraine, we will have severe sanctions. we will increase our presence in europe with our nato allies and it ll be a heavy price to pay for it. cnn s nic robertson is live in moscow for us. this warning comes days before u.s. and russian officials are set to meet in person in geneva to address the military activity along ukraine s border. so what more are you learning? reporter: you know, i think what we heard from president biden is much more of a framing around the military costs. the one thing president putin