civilians, by definition, you re a war criminal. reporter: the white house has not gone so far as calling putin a war criminal, but that is the widespread view by members on both sides here. also members will get a briefing later today by the leadership, top chairman, to the context of what zelenskyy asked for congress to do, as that guides the next phase of their approach. there is still talk potentially if you should give more to ukraine and attracting nearly $4 billion, but undoubtedly both sides recognize more needs to be done. it was notable to hear from president zelenskyy asking for more economic pressure against russia in the form of sanctions as well. manu raju, thank you as always. president biden is expected to speak in just a few minutes responding to president
very an important point that he s not even sure his russian friends are getting the true story of what s happening on the ground. it was very interesting to talk to him. he was very matter of fact and there was this anger at the end that you could feel. it tells you peace will not be easy here. every day this goes on, as brutal as putin is getting, what zelenskyy might have been comfortable negotiating yesterday he won t be comfortable negotiating tomorrow here. so when it comes to trying to find an end game here, let me ask you this, this way do we need to get prepared if for fact that we may have to see this end with putin still in charge of russia and maybe with him getting back into the world order if he agrees to certain conditions? you know, chuck, i m not prepared to weigh in on that yet. clearly putin is i think president biden is right. i think he is a war criminal. should he have said that? no. but, you know, i think it s
president in terms of the fact that russia has invaded ukraine. and while he is not wanting at all to get into a military conflict with russia and defend ukraine on the ground with american troops, he is now in the position of saying, this is the apex at this point of autocracy versus democracy. here is an example of a european country that is under siege. you re seeing schools for visually impaired children, shelters for children, all these things targeted. president biden putting him squarely in this, president putin is a war criminal. when the president goes to europe this week, this is to show, to have a unity of western countries. and for nato to get together and say they continue to stand by article 5, that they continue to understand that that is a sacred bond these countries face. they re going to talk about what happens next in terms of ukraine. nato has said very clearly they also don t want to get into a military conflict, but there is
the ukrainian forces and citizens there are going to make it very, very bloody. and over the course of time that will be a determining factor in terms of how much will the russians have to stick around and carry this thing through. we re now hearing about a potentially new threat. the white house has warned russia could use chemical weapons. how could that change the game here in terms of how ukraine fights and nato potentially helps? and how should ukrainians prepare? well, it s a war crime. they re not they re banned. they re not supposed to be used in combat. weapons of mass destruction are over another category. if they are used, it s ghastly. it can be deadly. the russian forces have to put up with it as well. because if you use chemical weapons now you re trying to occupy a space you ve completely contaminated. this continues to pill up all the evidence that s absolutely in front of us that labels putin a war criminal.
to justify escalating its attacks on the ukrainian people. reporter: today, ukraine s lead negotiator in talks with russia said a compromise on a future peace agreement with russia could be reached within a couple of days or couple of weeks. with a possible summit between zelenskyy and putin. but three weeks since it began, this punishing war grinds on, and touches even the very youngest and most vulnerable. in a dank, airless basement, without windows,. hello, hello! reporter: 20 babs born to surrogate mothers are hiding from the war, cared for by eight dedicated nurses. you already have a very hard job. how much more difficult and dangerous is it because of the war? she said, the hardest part is the small, enclosed space. but the babies still need to be fed, taken care of and loved. parents from america, europe,