Hey there, it's the MPR Politics podcast. It is 234 p.m. on Thursday, February 24th.

I'm Susan Davis. I cover Congress. I'm Frank O'Adena as I cover the White House.

An international affairs correspondent, Jackie Northam, is also here. Hey Jackie.

Hi. So Russia has begun its invasion of Ukraine. President Joe Biden addressed the nation this

afternoon. The Russian military has begun to brutal assault on the people of Ukraine.

President, without provocation, without justification, without necessity, this is a premeditated attack.

Vladimir Putin ignored months of warnings from the U.S. Europe and allies around the world

that an invasion will provoke severe consequences for Russia and its people.

Putin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war, and now he and his country will bear the consequences.

Jackie, before we get into everything that the president said today, can you just take a step back

for a minute and provide some context to how significant this move is by Vladimir Putin?

It's very significant. You know, this is shaping up to be the largest war on European soil

since the end of World War II. You know, it's about one country, an autocracy, with a very powerful

military, simply trying to seize control of another country, a democratic, western country.

And the worry is that if Russia manages to seize Ukraine, what's stopping it from trying to move

onwards to other countries, NATO countries, the Baltic states, which sit next to Ukraine?

You know, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, these are small nations. There's really nothing to stop

Russian president Vladimir Putin from just keep moving the troops forward. So this is more than

just an invasion invasion of Ukraine. It's really, it's also a challenge by Putin to NATO countries,

and that includes the US. So, Fargo, with all that in mind, what did Biden say today about how the

US is going to respond to this? You know, President Biden responded saying that aggression cannot go

unanswered. He says America stands up to bullies. America needs to stand up for freedom.

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