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We have reason to believe that. to be clear you are convinced you are convinced that president putin is going to invade ukraine? is that what you just said a few moments ago? yes, i did. what reason do you have to believe he s considering that option at all? we have a significant intelligence capability. other sign russia s preparing for invasion a u.s. defense official telling cnn nearly half of russian forces surrounding ukraine are in attack position tonight. i want to go live now to ukraine where cnn international correspondent michael holmes is in lviv for us tonight. president biden has said putin made a decision to invade. half the russian force said are in attack mode. the ukrainian people waking up to this terrifying news. are they ready? reporter: interesting in terms of preparedness i was actually interviewing the mayor of this city where i am which is in the rest of the country. i was speaking to him yesterday, ....
Along ukraine s border, and pentagon spokesperson john kirby says that putin has added at least a half dozen landing ships in the black sea with the purpose of putting troops onshore. they are talking diplomacy but advancing into attack positions. right. this is a moment of maximum pressure against ukraine. so he s got the military machine moving. he s moving it to its attack position. the world is on edge. people in ukraine are starting to take this seriously. it could be very damaging. what he wants is the collapse of the government in ukraine or president zelensky say, we give up on nato, or please accept us as your friends, russia. i don t think that s going to happen. president zelensky has stood very firm, and mr. putin s running out of time. that was the reason why i believe foreign minister lavrov did a public conference with putin, was to sort of extend the ....
Making the actual decision and saying you will attack. reporter: today, president biden, convening an urgent meeting with his national security team in the situation room, many just back from europe, where they were reassuring allies and doubling down on the consequences for putin if he attacks. we are talking about the real possibility of war in europe. reporter: more than 150,000 russian troops are thought to be amassed on three sides of ukraine, although one u.s. official telling abc news that number could be as high as 190,000. u.s. officials claiming 50% of those forces are now in attack position. these kinds of orders to tactical commanders could either be part of reinforcing the bluff, or they could be the next step in a real invasion. reporter: adding to the pressure today, russia announcing their troops will not leave belarus as planned, instead they will remain behind and continue joint exercises. james longman was on the ground as the drills unfolded. reporter: r ....
Wright s family. the massive winter storm wreaking havoc. the 100-car pileup shutting down a highway in illinois for more than 24 hours. tornadoes striking in alabama. our team in the storm zone. california, the first state to shift to an endemic strategy, as covid cases drop. what it means for communities. the olympics chief breaking his silence about the russian skater at the center of a doping firestorm. what he says he found chilling. and the urgent recall on baby formula. what parents need to know. announcer: this is nbc nightly news with lester holt. good evening, everyone. breaking tonight, president biden speaking to the country just a short time ago, saying that he s convinced vladimir putin has made the decision to invade ukraine, and that he believes ukraine s capital, kyiv, will be targeted. a defense official telling nbc news russian forces have 40 to 50% of their forces in attack position. ....
Ukrainian, launched a new members state borders. [end of translation] russia, for its part, is still spreading the lie that they re open for democracy, to diplomacy. but the numbers speak for themselves. they ve amassed over 200,000 troops at the border, as many as 50% of those troops are now in an attack position. this is a story that s evolving by the moment, and who better to discuss this with that former u.s. ambassador to russia, and msnbc international affairs analyst, michael mcfaul. ambassador mcfaul, thank you so much for joining us. don t start just right out of the gate, getting your assessment of where we are right now at this hour. you can almost feel the tension, sort of, building up a bong american diplomats and spokesman about where this thing is. how do you see it? well, i think yesterday s speech by president biden was a major escalation, and a major ....