leverage is a really- interesting question. and we re not quite clear- on that yet because they could use it to intervene, to put pressure on the kremlin and say, you ve got to sort this, stop, and sort of, - in other words, just - establish themselves as this century s new hegemon. in other words, using this as an opportunity to say, i look at us, we are now what the united states. used to be. we are the peace makers. we are the people who come in with the sheer military - and economic heft to bang heads together to end - conflicts. now, it s not clear yet- whether china wants to do that, but that potential. opportunity is there. let s look at what might happen next. bevan in melbourne has been asking about vladimir putin s plans for ukraine, and if there is an end in sight. jess lyn in singapore asks this. how do we see this conflict being resolved? for example, will there eventually have to be intervention from the nato countries? my name is ellen- from washington, dc, in
has there been no sort of softening on any of those red lines that might indicate they re getting serious? you know, we ve heard a cup of intriguing hints from both sides. zelenskyy said the ukrainians could consider commitment joining nato and maybe accept a non-nato neutral status. it wasn t official proposal but amusing but highly interesting because it would be a key concession to russia. russia for their part the beat they don t insist on zelenskyy s removal. there s still a huge gap, but those were two intriguing signs. we re still so far on the common core issue of get out of our country versus, no, we re staying. what do you think will be most responsible for pushing russia to make some concessions? is it the military side, the
israel to host putin and zelenskyy might actually get somewhere? for the moment, no. ukrainians aren t prepared to concede their territory. their demand is that the russians cease-fire and leave their country. the russians, the opposite. they demand that zelenskyy be replaced, the government capitulate and they consolidate their own imposed puppet government. there s no meeting of the minds here. so until something changes significantly on the battlefield that one side or the other feels compelled to make concessions the good offices of the turks or israelis won t make any difference. that s disappointing. as you point out there have been so many red lines for russia going back to those 1997 nato lines, de-armament of ukraine. all those things have led to secretary of state antony blinken and others saying russia isn t serious about negotiation.
i ve got this from decent sources people around putin. so i should caveat all of this by saying maybe i don t know what i m talking about but i think what we ve learned from the fact that he did this and he did this without apparently consulting even many of those closest to him in the kremlin is that his calculus of what he wants to achieve we thought he wanted to achieve a ukraine as a sort of non nato member buffer state between russia and nato, he wanted to achieve a seat at the top table with the americans. maybe that s not what he wants to achieve. maybe he actually believes his own propaganda that he s fighting this kind of nazi threat. i mean, at this point, i think that s possible. i don t know what you think, vitaly. it s all very true, and looking at what has been or had been happening before the war, i did get the feeling that things are about to get really, really tense and difficult.
reporter: richard weir with human rights watch says what s important is the icc is already investigating so people could be held accountable. which never happened in aleppo, for example. never happened. and right now the international community has an opportunity to break the cycle of impunity and finally hold those individuals to account for what they have done. reporter: but the process is a long one. and volodymyr says there is still time to stop another mariupol. i also want all the people and even mr. biden and other political guys in the nations to understand that if we fall, you re next. reporter: also today, the prosecutor general here in ukraine is investigating whether or not 2,000 ukrainian kids were deported to russia if that s true, that would also constitute a war crime. lester molly hunter, thanks. nato this evening standing by it commitment to supply ukraine with weapons and other aid, but reminding that its obligation to the beleaguered non-nato nation on