ground. a microcosm perhaps of the country in which it lies. matt rivers, cnn, moschun, ukraine. joining me now is a research fe fellow. and thank you for taking the time to speak to us. let me get your thoughts on what we heard from western officials that they believe that vladimir putin could formally declare war on ukraine as soon as may 9. what would that mean in reality? first of all, it is also the opinion much our intelligence services so a scenario that we are taking into account. of course it would be a factor in this war because it would mean mobilization of people and economy. but in the end with the statement made by the u.s. secretary of defense lloyd austin last week that we need to