H.R. McMaster, the former national security adviser during President Trump's first term, breaks down the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine war as Mr. Trump grows frustrated with Vladimir Putin's actions.

Washington

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Malaysia to discuss the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, as Russian forces launched significant drone and missile attacks on Kiev. Rubio expressed disappointment over the lack of progress in peace talks and indicated the US would continue to engage diplomatically.

Former national security adviser H.R. McMaster emphasized the importance of continued US military support for Ukraine, particularly advanced air defense systems and long-range precision strike capabilities. McMaster also highlighted concerns about US weapons stockpiles and the need to expand defense production capacity, noting that the conflict has underscored vulnerabilities in supply chains and the importance of maintaining strategic depth.

Why Russia's doubling down on war despite Trump's desires for peace

Welcome back. U. S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today in Malaysia for talks. Both leaders are in the country for the gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The meeting comes as Russian drones and missiles struck Kiev. Ukrainian officials say at least two people were killed and 22 others were injured. Rubio spoke to reporters about what he discussed with Lavrov. I echoed what the president said of both disappointment and frustration at the lack of progress in peace talks or in a path forward. So we'll continue to engage. We shared some ideas and comments which I'll take back to Washington as early as this evening in terms of calls and reflected and perhaps there's something to build on there. So but it was a frank conversation. It was an important one. We had it and we talked about some other items as well and related to the war in Ukraine. But that was the obviously the first and foremost topic that we discussed. I want to bring in CBS News foreign policy and national security contributor H.R. McMaster for more on today's meeting. Thank you so much for joining us today. We know the war continues to drag on but is this a sign that any dialogue is progress toward eventual peace in Ukraine. Well Mugo as you know Secretary of State said hey it is important to keep talking but you know you've got to keep your expectations low with the Russians and especially you know with Sergei Lavrov not only because the guy is kind of like insufferable as a human being but because he's been like the mouthpiece for the Kremlin's aggression for so long you know and and actually you know there's some debate about how much sway he really even has within within the Kremlin. So hey yeah keep talking. It can help us understand better. I think Russian intransigence at this point which I hope will impel President Trump to you know to continue to support and increase support for Ukraine and put more pressure on Putin. I think what's becoming clear is hey the Kremlin hasn't changed its war amps and in fact they're doubling down on their onslaught against the Ukrainian people. So I want to ask you about this because after a brief pause the White House will now ship some weapons to Ukraine to help in their war efforts. But just how important are these specific weapons in Ukraine's efforts to stop Russia's attack? Muga they're very important. We just had in the last 24 hours the largest aerial onslaught on Ukraine since the since the beginning of the war. You know so it's really important to have you know what you call a tiered and layered air defense. And so what what Russia's doing is they're using drones. They're using decoy drones. They're using different types of missiles including ballistic missiles. And you need the patriots which have been sort of an issue here you know for some of the most difficult missiles to shoot down. But hey one of the things that concerns me too Muga is they also need long range precision strike capabilities because to have a good integrated air defense system you have to be able to shoot down arrows but you also have to be able to kill the archer. So it's important I think to continue support for Ukraine. Maybe with a long term low interest loan. I mean President Trump doesn't like to give stuff up for free and that's OK. You know but but there is the model of the loan to Finland at the end of World War One. So Finland could defend itself against the nascent Soviet Union. And guess what. Finland paid that back in full. You know so I think there's an opportunity here to bolster the defenses of Ukraine bolster their will because they're under a very severe attack and then convince Putin that he can't win this war. And that's the only way I think that we're ever going to get to some sort of a ceasefire. So we've heard Defense Secretary Pete Hekseth talking about the importance of having some of those weapons in the reserve. I want to ask you about that. Is that important. And just at what point does the United States say OK we're losing out on all of these weapons that maybe we might need at some point. Secretary Hekseth is right about that. Right. We do need to have stockpiles of these weapons. We just expended a large number of patriots defending our base in Qatar and also helping to defend Israel from the Iranian onslaught of missiles and and drones and so forth. But really the missiles for the for the patriots. But you know I think what's really important is the Ukraine war has highlighted a lack of capacity production capacity in our defense industrial base. Hey so we need to get after that. You know we do expand our production capability. We have to make our supply chains more resilient. A lot of the key components for our munitions are reliant on adversarial nations. So it's really you know we should. I think the Ukraine war has been a wake up call. Our production capacity is expanding. I'll have a short piece in The Wall Street Journal this afternoon with some statistics in there. But I think what's really important is in this case. Hey remember we were the arsenal for democracy. World War Two. Let's be let's be Americans not Americans. You know and expand this production capacity support Ukraine and make sure you know that we have the depth the strategic depth to be able to deter this conflict from cascading further potentially into the Indo-Pacific. Because you know who's watching all this Mugo is Xi Jinping in China. And and I think it's really important for us to to demonstrate what President Trump has called peace through strengths. Yeah some very important points there. HR McMaster. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you for your time and your insight today. Appreciate it.

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Kyiv

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Why Russia's doubling down on war despite Trump's desires for peace

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Ukraine Invasion