now this is a situation where sherman says, the u. s. is very steadfast, that it is opposed to an invasion of ukraine, although it was not specifically discussed at monday's meeting. she did say that the u. s. is trying to find a way to resurrect the intermediate of missile a treaty, that the u. s. and others say that the russians have broken by stationing of medium range missiles around its territory aimed at western europe. been. she also said that one thing is not going to change the idea that nato is not going to open its membership to countries that want to be members. she said that would be infringing on those countries right? to decide how to conduct their foreign policy. she did say there's a lot of work to do, but this is just the beginning and whether the russians are trying to basically create a situation to justify an invasion of ukraine. she said, well, we'll just have to see what they're actually doing. russian president vladimir putin has claim victory and defending neighboring kazakstan from what he called a foreign backe

now, this is a situation where sherman says, the u. s. is very steadfast, that it is opposed to an invasion of ukraine, although it was not specifically discussed at monday's meeting. she did say that the u. s. is trying to find a way to resurrect the intermediate term missile a treaty, that the u. s. and others say that the russians have a broken by stationing on min medium range missiles around its territory aimed at western europe. been. she also said that one thing is not going to change the idea that nato is not going to open its membership to countries that want to be members . she said that would be infringing on those countries right? to decide how to conduct their foreign policy. she did say there's a lot of work to do, but this is just the beginning and whether the russians are trying to basically create a situation to justify an invasion of ukraine. she said, well, we'll just have to see what they're actually doing yet just to focus on that more rosalind. i mean, as you said, no talk or other countries joining nato. of course,

not nita went out nato, wendy sherman speaking. there, nato is scheduled to have its own sit down with russia this coming wednesday here to expectations are low and the talks will take place without ukraine at the table . now the fact that the kremlin insists on bilateral talks with the biden administration 1st. and then 2nd talks with nato. it does not help the situation today. ukraine's deputy prime minister made it clear on which side of the g o strategic divide they want to be the euro. atlantic integration is enshrined in our constitution and supported by the majority of ukrainian citizens. it's not a subject to negotiation or bargaining aggressor is not in a position to put conditions until the russian tanks is out of ukrainian border. while at the border, ukrainian soldiers have literally dug in their positions with russian troops just kilometers away. take a look at this. this is recent footage from the don't ask region, the front line of ukraine's 8 year conflict with pro russian separatist in these muddy trenches. there's

sherman. you're recognized for five minutes. >> chair warren, ranking member cassidy and distinguished members of the subcommittee. thank you for the opportunity to testify today about privacy issues facing american citizens. i am a fellow at duke enough sanford school of public policy where i lead a research project focused on the the daya proek raj eco-system. the unregulated industry of u.s. companies aggregated, buying and selling americans' personal data on the open market. data brokers are profiting off the vulnerability and insecurity of the u.s. and its citis while a comprehensive privacy law is vital, congress need not wait to resolve this debate to regulate data brokerage. today i'll make three points. congress should control the sale of data to foreign countries and control the sale of data for certain categories and stop companies from circumventing those controls by inferring data. our research at duke university has found data brokers widely advertising data on hundreds of millio

s. diplomat, wendy sherman. she described that today's talks as constructive, but she said there were no breakthroughs of ukraine or any future security arrangements in eastern europe. we will not allow any one that slam closed nato's open door policy, which has always been central to dando alliance. we will not wear go bilateral cup cooperation with sovereign state that which to work with united states. and we will not make decisions about ukraine without refrain about europe without your birth. not, nita went out nato. wendy sherman's speaking there. now neither was scheduled to have its own sit down with russia this coming wednesday here to expectations are low and the talks will take place without ukraine at the table. now, the fact that the kremlin insists on bilateral talks with the biden administration 1st. and then 2nd talks with nato. it does not help the situation today. ukraine's deputy prime minister made it clear on which side of the geo strategic divide they want to be. the euro. atlantic integrati

they were of straightforward again wendy sherman's language. but she said this wasn't a negotiation. this was really the attempt. she said for the us and for russia to take the measure of each other's concerns. since are the meeting last summer between president vladimir putin and joe biden. the president of the european palm and david cecily has died at the age of $65.00. his spokesman said he'd been in hospital since december 26 after a series of complications related to his immune system. saucily had been the president of the parliament since 2019 said lawson has more from amsterdam. yes. fell ill of a very severe case of pneumonia in september. during a plenary session of the european parliament. he was out of the office for 2 months . he wasn't there when there was a prominent state of the union address, so of the european parliament back in september. then he recovered it. but then he went into hospital again in december for what his spokesman called an immune deficiency to was an a serious problem with his immune system. and now he sudde

sherman. cofounder and senior fellow at ethical tech. and initiative at duke university focused on research at the interaction of technology and ethics. mr. sherman studies data brokers and the sensitive data that they hold on u.s. individuals. following mr. sherman we have sam sacks of yale law schools paul china center and a cyber policy fellow at the think kink new america. miss sex is an expert on cross border data flows, and studies how chinese government collects and uses the data. finally, we have miss stacey gray. miss gray's senior counsel at the future of privacy form. she is a data broker expert, and her research centers on the intersection of emerging technologies and federal regulation, and enforcement. increasing consolidation throughout the american economy, undoubtedly, contributes to the higher prices, worsening working conditions, and privacy concerns. the pandemic has not only exacerbated these issues, but has also exposed them more plainly. we can fix this together, we can

secretary of date wendy sherman will talk about the ukraine conflict. until then, the washington journal. >> a shot of the capitol in washington d.c. across washington, policy officials will gather at the walter washington convention center to talk about issues looking at automobiles and, in fact, it's their public policy day at the auto show. joining us to start a series of conversations with the auto show is john o'donnell, he's the president and ceo of the washington area new automobile dealers association, mr. donald, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> live now to a discussion with deputy secretary of state wendy sherman on the russian-ukraine conflict. this is live coverage on c-span2. >> the diplomates who led the most recent talks with the russian federation. madam secretary, welcome and welcome, also, in the name of my fellow board members. the united states for protecting the principles of international law and for the rights of every nation to choose their own way into the future. secretary sherman, what can you tell ukra

well, the deputy secretary of state wendy sherman, was not going to say that this meeting this 8 hour long meeting with us sergey rubicon, and his delegation was a success. she did say that the conversations were frank were blunt, aware, quite forthright. and that both sides o spelled out their concerns. now the question, according to deputy secretary sherman, is whether the russians will take up the americans offer to try to talk more to try to continue these discussions. what did not come up was the question of what to do about ukraine, except for the russian a vowel that it wasn't going to invade that country. she essentially said that we'll have to see what happens. and as far as all these big issues are concerned, it is the realization that we think rose on the part of both sides. that if they break down the big issues in some senses, it might be easier to deal with individual issues one at a time. well i think that the u. s. certainly recognizes that all of these issues are distinct issues, even though they are all gonna conflated and certainly they are being conflated in the yo

after seven hours of meeting, wendy sherman said the u.s. was willing to discuss limits to military exercises in eastern europe. russia's deputy foreign minister meanwhile claimed russia has no intention to invade ukraine. he made that claim, though, despite this. russia's buildup of more than 100,000 troops along the border with ukraine. a move that alarmed the u.s. and the nato allies. not to mention the ukrainians. our chief foreign correspondent spent time in the krenchs literally with ukrainian troops preparing for a potential russian invasion. >> ukrainians are welcoming 2022 by preparing for a possible russian invasion. digging new trenches by hand in the frozen earth. lined by mine fields, the trenches stremp for miles. defenses that have changed little since world war i. a ukrainian soldier says he'll fight to the end. but of the talks, he adds, my opinion is wars have always been resolved through diplomacy. we expect our leaders will solve these issues. maria, a forward scout, didn't see her four-year-old son for christmas, and may

sherman says the u.s. made clear to russia de-escalate the situation at the border or face severe sanctions. sherman refused to tip her hand, not going into any detail of what those sanctions might be. russian officials downplayed the potential invasion fool you got you in no way. do we plan or intend to, quote, unquote, attack ukraine? >> and all the arrangements regarding the combat readiness of the armed forces are made within our national territory. >> russia is amassing more than 100,000 troops near its border with ukraine and says they're there for training today. sherman says if that's true, then it's time to send those troops home. >> and they can prove. that, in fact, they have no intention idea the lighting and returning. >> the u.s. and its allies threatening the toughest sanctions yet against russia. an effort to head off what could be a widespread regional conflict triggered by a potential russian invasion a little today. ukrainian officials separately made their case in a meeting at nato head

this combs as the deputy secretary of state that wendy sherman said, but as far as the united states source, they could see russia using force against ukraine before me to february. this, of course, something russia vehemently denies. we also heard from wendy sherman saying that nato had as of yet not made up a firm decision on what to do when it came to the situation regarding ukraine. very keen to see what anthony blinking has to say all very new news. this developing it of course, soon as we hear anything from gans, dalton book coming out of brussels as well be bringing you all of the latest here. what we have in terms of coming what's come out of europe so far. with relation to the, the german side, i'm seeing gay from berlin. there is a continuation of the message from germany that they will not send weapons directly to ukraine. they are sending age to ukraine, though of course there's part of the european union that will be sending perhaps part of a $1320000000.00. a financial aid package not still to be signed off by a lot of people though. but when it comes to, to immediate 8

host: congressman sherman? guest: biden did not wake up one day and say "let's have a crisis in the ukraine. putin woke up. those trips on the border are not biden's idea. that is putin's forces. biden very much does not want international distractions. his focus is on domestic policy. this is a crisis biden does not want. second, the idea that the gentleman mentions gas -- i assume he is talking about natural gas, because that is what we were talking about before. we don't import any natural gas from russia. in fact, the united states exports natural gas. and natural gas is a complicated and expensive thing to move from one continent to another. so -- it has to be liquefied, and that is an expensive process. so to think that we would ever import natural gas from russia, when we have so much natural gas in the united states that we are liquefying it and exporting it to asia, is -- now i will say this. if russia invades the ukraine -- that is not biden's idea. that is putin's idea. america has to respond. the le

, deputy secretary sherman, thank you very much. thanks for taking time to talk to us today. >> thank you, andrea. >> and squloining us now for reaction to that conversation with the deputy secretary, the admiral, formernateo supreme ally commander. and bill taylor, former u.s. ambassador to ukraine. welcome both. admiral, what the secretary just said is that they don't have to go across the border, that a cyber attack or continued provocation, misinformation, disinformation, stirring up the militias in the dombas region there's more that would also trigger sanctions, and she says the allies all 30 strong are absolutely rock solid. do you think that's true? >> i do. i feel the nato alliance, and this is based on my conversations with many sources in europe and also with ambassador smith and others, the alliance is completely aligned on this. the question is and you heard the ambassador use an interesting word, what about a hybrid attack? a hybrid attack is kind of a mix of conventional tanks, troops, missiles, armor and cyber propag

oh, interesting with zoom in our briefing with wendy sherman. it was all so what do you mean by d escalating on the border with ukraine? m. how? because after all these russian troops are in russia, is a russian troops in russia. how on earth can the west say, move your troops around when this is but it's, we're rushes to the us over the country. and when the showman, when pressed, was quite interesting, actually, because she said when she, when i talked about the escalation, she means returned the troops to barracks. and this is new, or tell us what exercises are on going and what their purposes russia. keep saying, these are just military exercises that are going on at the border that seem to be a bit a bit new from wendy sherman, that it's not necessarily a get the troops back to barracks or else, but actually be more transparent about what exactly those troops are up to share frequency with the latest from washington d. c. she had thank you. or meanwhile, russia's president has claimed victory in defending neighbor kazakhstan from what he ca

you heard deputy secretary sherman talk about two of them. one of them is reviving the intermediate nuclear forces agreement which president trump abandoned but the russians have violated and another was working out an agreement about where and when you would deploy troops on exercises making sure they're far from borders. but these are more tactical things and what the russians are really looking to do i get the sense is roll back the clock to at least 1997, maybe to 1990, so they have a spear of influence that is as broad or as close to as broad as what they have before the soviet union collapse. and i'm not sure the united states could help them with that. >> this meeting comes at an interesting point between two speeches from the president about the preservation of democracy. of course on the anniversary of the insurrection from one element talking about the former president, but then tomorrow he's going to be in atlanta to try to promote some movement on protection of voting rights. the president trying to promote democracy in eastern eu

s. deputy secretary of state, wendy sherman said the talks couldn't be considered negotiations under current terms, and that russia must deescalate. now, if moscow wants to keep talking. russia has been massing soldiers near the ukranian border for weeks causing concern for russia. denies any intention to attack russia's deputy foreign minister called the talks professional. but he says moscow remains firm on a central point to we on the score that for us, it's absolutely mandatory to make sure that ukraine never, never, never becomes a member of nato. and the answer to that from brussels. the door to nato remains open for ukraine due to memorial renew. it is for ukraine, on the 3rd to nato allies, to decide when ukraine is ready for membership, no one else hasa. there are 2 same thing, multiple expert suspect that for russia's president, putin. the uncompromising wrangling in geneva is about more than ukraine, if staggered us, i think in the end what he can get is a process which could take longer and could work towards negotiating a new european security order and fun, or fun, anno

i think there's a lot that can be negotiated about and deputy secretary wendy sherman has a long history of successfully negotiating with the russians. >> but these are all concessions, essentially, to russia, with nothing in return. was there something in 2014 that was possibly a mistake? i mean, should there not be more assistance to the ukrainians, so they can better defend themselves against russia, that has a history of wanting to go into ukraine, affect ukraine, invade ukraine. starve ukraine? >> yes. i mean, historically, they've starved ukraine going back to pre-world war ii, where millions of people have died. >> 1932, 1933. >> yes, exactly. and as you know, these russian hard-liners wrote a letter to the administration. jake sullivan reached out to them. the hard-liners want to give russians javelin missiles -- i mean, the ukrainians javelin missiles and stinger missiles and those kind of things to put off the russians. in the history of u.s./russian relations, they believe the only way to get russia to back down is to be incredibly aggressive. there are folks on the other side

sherman has not taken atlanta, block aid runners are getting through the federal navy blockade. for many people 3 years of war was about enough and gotten us to nothing and the leaders of the republican party said came to lincoln and said, we are going to have to do something desperate. lincoln is very, very eager to draw as many democratic votes as he possibly can to side with his republicans. he's not sure if they run just on the strength of the republican votes that they are going to win because many people who are satisfied with the course of things that they would shift the votes. how to appeal to the democratic voter who doesn't particularly like republicans or republican policies but nevertheless wants to see the war brought to a successful conclusion? well, what you do rename the republican party. so when the republican party comes together for convention in baltimore in the early summer of 1864, it is a new title. it calls itself the national union party and while they renominate abraham lincoln, republican nominee as presidential nominee, they also select a democrat an

we cannot assess that from here and ftd secretary sherman did not as well. host: this question is from "usa today," "why ukraine fate matters." here's what they report -- host: robert, east hampton, connecticut, what do you think should happen here? caller: i don't think that we should send troops. the first thing that biden did when he got into office was give the ok for the nordstrom pipeline. that should have been held as a bargaining chip. it makes no sense, sending troops. he's just a buffoon. the important thing is the new covid information that the head of the cdc said yesterday, about 75% of the covid cases, over 75% had comorbidity. host: ok, let's stick to the topic this morning. dan, independent, oregon, democratic caller. caller: thank you. why is no one talking about the treaty that we signed with ukraine along with russia and great britain to protect ukraine if they gave up their nukes. i would like to know why no one wants to talk about it. maybe i'm just too old or something. host: dan, tell us why that is important. caller: what? host: tell

kristin: i don't think brad sherman is representative of where most policymakers are at. if you look at the past couple of years, it was originally a very small group of devoted policymakers trying to wrap their heads around it. after this infrastructure fight where there was a crypto provision in the legislation, it became clear the cryptocurrency community is incredibly active, incredibly interested in being part of the process. we also see companies that are hiring professionals in washington, d.c. membership at the blockchain association has skyrocketed in the past couple of months. the crypto industry is here to be a partner with policymakers. they want to explain why old regulations don't make sense or can't work with the current crypto networks, and we want to find new ways to reach the same public policy goals we have in other areas, whether with internet policy or financial services policy, but do it in a way that makes sense with the way crypto networks are structured. there was a positive hearing at the end of the year in december in the house financial service

succumbs to sherman and everything that stood in the state of georgia, that's not really the case. but places which did pay a high penalty if the armies were tracing back and forth across them and one place certainly was virginia. the south loses by the capital in slavery and farm animals. probably the south's losses mounted to as high as in some estimates that i've seen $13 billion. that's $1,865. -- that's 1865 dollars and trying to create the slave system in a sense that the great punishment, the south suffers in reconstruction is not union occupation, union occupation by contrast was minimal. the real punishment the south suffers in reconstruction is self-administered. the south decides what it really wants is to walk away from industrial, 19th century transatlantic economy and to return to what it had been before the war which was a state and that will take another 80 years in the life of the south to change, so in a sense, the south became its own worst enemy in reconstruction. >> host: allen guelzo, you mentioned were you born in yokahama, japan to army officer and then mast

when they sent envoys who am i, wendy sherman goes to china victorian newland. they say, look, here's our interest. when all prepared to talk to about this, if you want to talk about taiwan, you want to be talk about these other issues. there are private or internal masses on call in time by, by victoria early, be very tough. be begin. look at her, a leaked phone call about the european union on line. i suppose. i don't know about the refugee crisis there, but i mean, here the english channel enormous numbers of people fleeing. well, from the was started by tony blair and, and george w bush all that time ago. but actually the news here is not mean about the refugees across the english channel. i'll give you far more coming from france. it's about of course, as you mentioned earlier, the better bruce poland border is putin responsible for hybrid warfare, as we're being told every day. here is a vanguard of this kind of opposition to washington's research and imperial policies. no, i am in those august as always from me, something of a stand off diplomatic stand o

your right, it's not an either or, but we've had a long tradition going back at least to 89 in the sherman anti trust by 1914 the clayton that we are a nation that at least verbal lee says it is dangerous to allow a handful, as in this case for applied monster supermarket change the have the kind of whole day and of the major buyer for the farmers to sell their goods. and then the other major sell it to us. that puts them in a very powerful position which we are on record as a nation, being opposed to i think elizabeth warren is absolutely right. that's part of the story. but that's what i meant before. when i said these things we've allowed to develop without opposition. neither by trump nor by abiding nor the ones who came before and now we're gonna see how we have to reap the whirlwind, that our failure to impose antique trust is going to bring down on us. well, it's interesting today because you also have to look at what the fed is thing all this and steve, you know, you're now hearing the, china's possibly going to lockdown their ports. and so there could be, this could be just the be

nato secretary general salten berk wendy sherman along with representatives of all 30 countries u.s. led alliance facing off with the foreign and defense ministers of russia. which with 100,000 russian troops on the border poised for invasion along with other meetings this week war and peace in europe was front and center. >> how close are we to a new armed conflict? >> there is a risk for new armed conflict in europe but that's exactly why the meeting today, and all the meetings take place this week are so important. because we will do what we can to prevent the new armed conflict. >> there is no movement on two of russia's key demands that nato accept no new members including ukraine and that u.s. and other nato troops and their weapons curtail activities inen eastern europe. the u.s. and its allies said no to both. >> we were basically saying to the russians, some of the things you have put on the table are nonstarters for us. >> despite new threats of consequences, there was also no commitment from russia that it would pull its troops back. there was more talk about arms control

so we will save this conversation for another day. >> any time. >> jake sherman, vaughn hillyard, thank you very much. >>> this afternoon the president will hold his first formal news conference in a year. with his approval ratings so low now, what is he planning to do to reset his agenda? >>> also ahead, how you can get your hands on the free covid tests and the free masks that are being mailed out or handed out by the government. the gove? the open road. i have friends. [ chuckles ] well, he may have friends, but he rides alone. that's jeremy, right there! we're literally riding together. he gets touchy when you talk about his lack of friends. can you help me out here? no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. well, we're new friends. to be fair. eh, still. to make my vision a reality my varilux progressive lenses provide seamlessly transition from near to far. with every detail in sharp focus. that's seeing no limits. varilux lenses by essilor. oh hey there! i'm just reading wayfair reviews like it's my job. i love seeing people lovin

that's something we're going to see i would imagine in four, five, or six weeks. >> jake sherman and peter baker, thanks for joining us on this friday, appreciate it. >>> still ahead, the impact of the supreme court striking down a vaccine mandate for large companies. why it means vaccine levels in the u.s. might stay stagnant. >>> also ahead, a walkout in the nation's third largest school district. why students say chicago officials are ignoring their covid concerns. s are ignoring tr covid concerns subway®... has so much new it didn't fit in our last ad. like the new deli-style oven-roasted turkey. and new hickory-smoked bacon. it's the eat fresh refresh™ at subway®. there's so much new we don't even have time for this guy! but i'm tom brady! oh, and there's smashed avocado too! >>> could we be looking at the end of new vaccinations in this country? a permanent drought when it comes to first timers getting their shots? it's a question some are asking after what happened around this time yesterday when the supreme court struck down a vaccine or test mandate for large businesses.

but what we're looking at right now, you know, this was not, as wendy sherman, the deputy secretary of state said, it wasn't a negotiation. this was the two sides coming together, putting out their positions, which each side snows very well, and the americans are saying, russia, your demand that ukraine and other countries in that region can never be part of nato is a non-starter. it's not going to happen. so let's talk about some things that maybe we could agree on, which would be, you know, limiting military exercises in europe or limiting missiles, medium-range and short-range missiles in europe. maybe we could work on that. but i listened very carefully to the deputy foreign minister. his discussion with journalists this afternoon, and what he was saying is, no, you can't peel away these individual issues. we want the whole thing. we want these security guarantees, as i put it, ironclad, waterproof, bulletproof, legally binding. so i don't think they got very far at all today. the russians are saying, well, let's see what happens with the next, you know, talks with nato and russia

wendy sherman's assessment was that the meetings on monday.

joining me now is punchbowl news co-founder and msnbc political contributor jake sherman. so jake, thank you so much for being here with us. let's talk about the democrats first. usually when a president is in power, his party loses the midterm elections. so what do democrats have to worry about? >> three things off the top of my head, katy. the bbb, build back better act, is completely stalled, going anywhere. joe manchin as you just discussed basically told us to stop asking about it yesterday. number two, voting rights, which has become the democrats' top priority, is also going nowhere for the time being, the filibuster is staying in place. number three, what will they get done this january? the month comes to a close very quickly. they'll spend all week on voting rights and then it's the end of the month. so they have a lot to worry about as they get into february, into the spring, and as campaigns get into full swing. >> what about the republicans? >> so this morning, dave wasserman, also frequent on this air, reported that redistricting is not as good as republicans

now of course, they have been meeting of face to face the deputy secretary, a, wendy sherman for the americans, sergey rubicon, the deputy foreign minister for the russians in geneva on monday are those meetings are still under way out, should be wrapping up. we think in the next couple of hours, but the real concern is trying to one figure out where they can actually try to deal with, with each other's demands. the u. s. does not want to see an invasion of ukraine, but it also does not want russia to continue other destabilizing activities, including its deployment of medium range missiles along its borders of facing western europe. as you noted, the russians want to the u. s. and nato to bassett, basically back away from la thereof, from the russian borders, and not at mit, any more countries, particularly those countries that used to be a part of the soviet union. staying with us story, little earlier, i spoke to pet true book of skill. he's a senior fellow at the democratic initiatives foundation in key if he explained to me what russia wants to achieve with these talks. i see yo

jake sherman, we're glad you're okay. jake sherman, the co-founder of punch bowl news. we'll talk to you again soon. >> still ahead, tragedy in a philadelphia neighborhood. a fire tears through a row house packed with people, including several children. >>> plus, the cdc tries to bring more clarity to covid vaccination. we'll break down what they mean by up to date on your shots. >>> and coming up later this hour, i'll be joined by cook woman debby dingell to match the one-year anniversary of the capitol attack. we'll be back with search more as we look one year later at the u.s. capitol. as we look one year later at the u.s. capitol - oh...oh. - what's going on? - oh, darn! - let me help. lift and push and push! there... it's up there. hey joshie... wrinkles send the wrong message. help prevent them with downy wrinkleguard. feel the difference with downy. a must in your medicine cabinet! less sick days! cold coming on? zicam is the #1 cold shortening brand! highly recommend it! zifans love zicam's unique zinc formula. it shortens colds! zicam. zinc that cold! (vo) veri

and i will close by saying our negotiator, you saw her picture a moment ago, ambassador wendy sherman, she has a spine of steel. she is a terrific negotiator, she negotiated with the iranians, i want her in the chair for these talks. let's see where they go. >> all right. gary, while it is always good to see you, it's never good news when you are here. give us a reality check. we're watching what's happening across the world, but for those of us who don't focus on it, why do we need to care? you know russia inside and out. >> thank you very much, stephanie. we are talking about ukraine, let's not forget that there is no u.s. ambassador in ukraine and this time is not a fault of senate. biden hasn't appointed anyone. and these talks with putin is our hostage negotiation with a terrorist. he invaded ukraine in 2014 and now he is using the threat of further invasion to demand concessions and his concessions are about basically destroying eastern flank of nato. so this isn't about geopolitical interest of russia, national security, it's extortion in putin's interest of causing chaos, expa