>> his message to american lawmakers divided over sending more aid to the war effort. >> if russia will kill all of us they will attack nato countries. the price will be higher. >> can ukraine still win the war? plus round three. the republican presidential candidates get ready to take the debate stage here in miami. >> i am pretty confident that we will be the guy that people will ultimately settle on. >> when i'm attacked, i kick back. >> we can't win with a moderate in 2024. >> can any of the gop challenger break through and trump on trial. former president trump is expected to take the stand this week in the civil fraud trial in new york. >> we're being railroaded here. >> why are trump's legal troubles seemingly helping his path to the nomination? joining me for insight and analysis are amy walter, editor in chief of the cooke political report. telemundo news anchor julio vaqueiro and democratic pollster cornell belcher and republican strategist sarah fagan. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history. this is a special edition of "meet the press" with kristen welker. good sunday morning from miami where we will be hosting the third republican presidential debate on wednesday night with foreign policy front and center. secretary of state antony blinken made an unannounced visit this morning to the israeli occupied west bank to meet with palestinian president mahmoud abbas. it comes as the war in ukraine is raging, the largest armed conflict in europe since world war ii. russia now controls about 18% of ukraine. 18% of the u.s. would be about the size of alaska or four californias. this includes crimea and part of eastern ukraine which russia has occupied since 2014. it's a war which many predicted russia would quickly dominate, instead has been drawn into what one of ukraine's top generals called a stalemate, nbc news reporting u.s. and european officials have begun quietly talking to the ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations russia might entail to end the war. president biden has proposed $105 billion in emergency support for ukraine, israel, and other national security threats, but republican support for the war is flagging. on thursday, the republican-led house passed a $14 billion in military aid for israel alone. a bill the white house says the president will veto. the newly installed house speaker responded. >> we have obligations and we have things that we can and should do around the world, but we have to take care of our own house first. we need to take care of the border in ukraine, but we need to take care of america's border as well. >> i sat down with an emotional ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy and admitted his people are tired, but undeterred. the lawmakers will give one more year of aid and it will be abel to close its funding gap, or, he warned, the price for the united states will be even higher. >> president zelenskyy, let me start off by asking you, it has now been more than 600 days since russia invaded ukraine. how would you describe the state of the war right now? >> translator: thank you for the question. as far as the situation on the front is concerned, i think -- of course, i cannot provide all of the details to you, but nevertheless, but we hold an initiative in our hands. you can imagine what a full-scale war or two years of a full-scale war is like. everybody gets tired. even the iron gets tired, but nernls, i'm proud of our warriors and our people that are strong. our people are helping, and our people are mobilized, and our people have a strong desire in to win. in some spears, kristen, we see steps forward. sometimes there are four steps because of land mines that russia mounted there while preparing for counteroffensive and in some spheres we have problems with the airfield. unfortunately, this thing hasn't changed since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. we have seen russia's domination in the air. it's a fact. and without the air defense, our steps forward are slow. >> but i can give you one example of the black sea. we have great success in the black sea. even after russia blocked black sea and canceled our grain corridor, grain initiative, by the way, we held to this corridor to countries of asia to countries of africa to manage the hunger, and i think that was very important, crucial. when russia canceled it because they had the initiative in the black sea, they blocked black sea. now we really defeated it. we really defend our black sea, and russian fleet has been destroyed by our ammunition, and now russia doesn't control fleet. that means that we used all ammunition, sea drones and air defense, to defend this region. it's very important. that was a signal -- signal that we can manage this war even against such terrorist organization like kremlin. >> the strategy of this war. this summer -- and you reiterated right now -- the progress has been slower than desired, an recently one of your top generals said ukraine has, quote, reached a stalemate. has the war reached a stalemate? >> kristen, you know, on the 24th of february when russia invaded our cities, our country, our land, our families, they attacked all of us. the world gave us three days. some european countries who really believed in us, they said one month. others said it would be very quick, and this is really the suggestion, what they said, but now we speak with you and now it's almost two years. now, initiative in our hands. yes, a lot of people, of course, in the world are tired. of course, it's understandable. somebody tired on the battlefield, somebody tired on the works, and somebody tired abroad, and they want to come back home to their husbands, to their soldiers and these guys, women, and children. some leaders to support ukraine yes, of course, because long war. >> i hear you rejecting the characterization by your top general that this is a stalemate. are you changing strategies as has been reported? >> translator: i believe that today, indeed, the situation is difficult. i don't think that this is a stalemate. it's a check on the part of the russian army, but before that, we did a lot. we had done a lot, and we are in a difficult situation. they thought they checkmate us, but this didn't happen. in the country, we took the initiative in our hands. now russia wants to do -- to attack us. they are attacking us in the east our country while losing thousands of people and hundreds of units -- of pieces of weaponry. we don't see it, but in the direction in the last week, 200 pieces of weaponry, of ammunition were lost -- have been lost. thousands of people had been lost. they had been killed. >> so we don't see deters. sometimes our attitude to the war that somebody's staying on about the one place, but it's not just stay. when you stay, you kill the enemy, and this is the fact. of course, russia understands that now with the focus of ukraine taken off and when this focus to the middle east and when they tried to divide the world in this crisis, israel, palestine crisis, and, of course, of course, russia is very happy with this war. they don't count how many children were killed there. they don't think about the flag or nationality. we saw some moments, their attitude. we saw in dagestan, this is the part of russia, and this is what the biggest wave of anti-semitism. this is what they want. they just want to divide the world, to take focus from ukraine to another war, and if it will be enough for them -- i again am repeating this and will repeat it in two years, if it will be not enough for them. it will not be enough because syria was not enough. they began in ukraine. after ukraine in the middle east, they will continue their plan and you see that iran is supporting them, and inner ukraine is supporting them with the weapon with and in the middle east again. >> so, president zelenskyy, are you looking at a shift in strategy to try to gain the upper hand right now? >> translator: our military are coming up with different plans and different operations in order to move forward faster and to strike russian federation unexpectedly, but barehanded it's impossible to do without weapons and without relevant, proper weapons, and it's a fact. therefore, we have to -- to prepare. we have to clearly understand what steps could be more appropriate, and we have to move forward faster. >> president zelenskyy, nbc news is reporting that u.s. and european officials have begun quietly talking to your government about what possible peace negotiations with russia might look like to end this war. have you personally been involved in these talks, and what's the status of these talks? >> a lot of different voices around us. i heard a lot of different voices and the emotions and the -- without any propositions. a lot of different things. but as for me, i don't have -- for today, i don't have any -- any relations with russians, and they know my position. that is the position of my country. that is the position of our people. we don't want to make any dialogue with terrorists, and the president of the united states and congress, bipartisan support, all these people, they know that i am not ready to speak with the terrorists because their word is nothing. nothing. we can't trust terrorists because terrorists always come back. >> as you know with this attack against israel, americans are now being asked to fund two wars and there's growing skepticism about ongoing support of ukraine, particularly among republicans in congress. what is your message to u.s. lawmakers who don't want to send another dollar to ukraine? >> translator: thank you very much for this question. first of all, i don't think it's aid to ukraine. i think it's aid to the united states and the european union. as i said, i believe that ukraine is defending our joint values, common values. i will repeat, i believe that putin wants to divide europe, to weaken the united states of america, and he always wants to find a hot spot in europe so that there is no stability in europe, in the middle east, what's happening now, and on other continents, too, and i believe that ukraine is defending both the european union and the european continent and our common values. >> one more message, you have to understand how we fight. how we live. you have to understand to come to ukraine and see. we are the same people. we have the same values. i am really thankful to president biden. by the way, he was here, and i think he's strong man, and he was a historical moment here here. he's a hero because he was here under missile attack, but he was here, and he understood more about ukraine. yes, he knew ukraine even before this invasion. yes, he knew, but he understood that heroic attitude ukraine has to their democracy, to their people, and to their families, and he understood. he began more strongly to help us, and i am also thankful to congress. i have opportunity to address to congress two times and really, congress and the bipartisan support was very important and very important moment. now it is a very important moment not to lose the will, not to lose these strong positions, and not to lose your democracy. >> as you know -- >> please, it is very important. now you don't send -- you don't send your soldiers. god bless. don't send your daughters and sons to other nato country because if russia will kill all of us, they will attack nato countries, and you will send your sons and daughters, and it will be -- i'm sorry -- but the price will be higher. that is my signal. and believe in democracy. believe in ukraine. >> can you help skeptical lawmakers and americans who don't want to send more money to ukraine? how long should they expect to send more money? when do you anticipate you can end this war, president zelenskyy? >> i think that the next year with the challenges because this is the year of your elections. now, again, we see the critical situation in the middle east, so i think your help is very important for the next year, and that is crucial. and i think if we will manage all the things that i said, the gap will be minimized in our budget. and after that, after next year, if -- if the war will not finish next year, if, if, if, it will not finish, i think that using your air defense system, using this cooperation and using these new jobs i think we will manage to minimize this gap and you will not help us such high price, i'm sure. that's it. >> and to be very specific, you i'm going to ask you about the election momentarily, you're asking for more defenses. f-16s are in the process of being ready. what more air defenses do you need, president zelenskyy? can you be specific? >> yes, anti-drone systems and specific drones which our ministers know very well which can attack enemy and also draws with our intelligence and they provide intelligence. these are specific things we begin to produce. and when we come back, more of my interview with president zelenskyy including his response to president trump's proposal to end the war in 24 hours. hours. i've lost 228 pounds on golo.i. ♪ changing your habits is the only way that gets you to lose the weight. and golo is the plan that's going to help you do that. just take the first step, go to golo.com. c'mon, we're right there. c'mon baby. it's the only we need. go, go, go, go! ah! touchdown baby! -touchdown! are your neighbors watching the same game? yeah, my 5g home internet delays the game a bit. but you get used to it. try these. they're noise cancelling earmuffs. i stole them from an airport. it's always something with you, man. great! solid! -greek salad? exactly! don't delay the game with verizon or t-mobile 5g home internet. catch it on the xfinity 10g network. welcome back. as the republican presidential candidates prepare to meet in miami this week for their third debate, ukrainian president zelenskyy spoke directly to the front-runner who will not be on stage, former president donald trump. >> president zelenskyy, former president trump who is the gop front-runner has said that if he's re-elected he could end this war in 24 hours. what is your reaction and message to former president trump about that? >> former president trump said that in about 24 hours that he can manage it and finish the war. for me, what can i say? he's very welcome. president biden was here, and he -- i think he understood something else, which you can understand only being here. so i invite president trump. if he can come here, i will need 24 minutes -- yes, 24 minutes, not more -- not more. 24 minutes to explain to president trump that he can't manage this war. he can't bring peace because of putin, but if he -- if all is well, if he's not trying and if he's not ready to give our territory for this terrible man, for the putin. if we are not ready to give it, if you are not ready to give our independence, he can't manage it. yes. so he's very welcome. >> he's welcome to come to ukraine. other presidential candidates have obviously come to ukraine as well. have you had any contact with former president trump since he left office, president zelenskyy? >> no. no. i -- no. no. that's why he is very welcome. we will repeat our tradition, which was when he was the president. >> do you think he would have ukraine's back if he were to be re-elected? >> i really -- i don't know. really, i don't know. i hope that -- that it depends not only on presidents institutionally. i think it depends on the opinion of americans, of your society. i think that is most important. i think it's important in the united states and eu the attitude of just ordinary people. there -- it's their support. it's their money. it depends on them. >> there are reports that you plan to visit israel. is that true, and what will your goal be? >> translator: from the very start, on the first day of the attack by the terrorist organization, hamas against israel, we condemned this aggression, and we stated our position, and i said that we are ready to go to israel today. it is difficult to say because i am the president of a country at war, and, you know, on our battlefields, it's very hard. therefore, my visit there depends on a number of things. i have to be open, sincere. first -- so what's happening on the battlefield defines many things, and, second, it depends on whether we will be abel to get our citizens of ukraine who are stranded there, if with we can get them out of there. if -- for this, it's necessary for me to be there in israel or egypt. whenever our people are released, i will fly there, if it is possible. if it can be done without my involvement with the level of diplomacy, they will do that then. >> do you believe israel is following international law? >> translator: i have to be sincere. we are looking at this situation like as if it's something new. it's not a new situation at all. it's a -- it's a fire that has been burning between israel and palestine, and some people are still throwing matches into this fire, and i am sure that russia was behind and is sponsoring hamas and iran too. that is who's to blame. when we talk about laws, rules, where there are terrorists, there are no rules. everything is beyond laws. everyone is trying to save their own lives and fight against the enemy using all their efforts and all of the forces. first, you want to finish this war and sit down at the negotiation table, and you have to expert pressure on russia and iran. you have to admit that these countries are behind these, and i will also add north korea there. you saw how many korean -- north korean munitions were found in gaza, and it's a fact, and it's difficult, of course. the main thing is that if terrorists are attacking, if terrorists attack, if they -- if they behead children, you have full right to defend people and defend your own country, state, but we have to understand if we can -- we can open humanitarian corridors and take away prisoners of war and have people there, the whole world should do this and all they can to stop this war. >> president zelenskyy, thank you so much. before you go, if you want to share, what keeps you going? do you ever feel defeated? >> i have a lot of power, but even feeling strong and have a lot of energy, it doesn't mean that we want to fight all our life because the price is high, like i said, because the war takes the best of us, the best heroes, the best men, women, children, that's it, but we are not ready to give our freedom to this [ bleep ] terrorist putin. that's it. that's why we are fighting. that's it. >> president zelenskyy, thank you so much for your time this morning. we really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> president zelenskyy's emotions palpable there. you can see my full interview with the ukrainian president at meetthepress.com. when we come back, how will the funding fight over ukraine play out? our panel's next. our panel's next the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. welcome back. the panel is here. julio vaqueiro, anchor of noticias telemundo. amy walter, editor in chief of the cooke political report. republican strategist sara fagen, and republican pollster cornell belcher. thank you for being here in miami. >> so good to see all of you. yes, we'll have to come back, right? amy, let me start with you. i want to go around and get everyone's reaction to what we just heard from president zelenskyy. you could hear his emotion particularly at the end there when he used an expletive to talk about putin. what were your takeaways, amy? >> well, he understands the