plans for an offensive in the southern gazan city of rafah and to call for more aid to be allowed in. i'm helena humphrey. it's good to have you with us. russia has accused ukraine of disrupting its presidential elections. voters headed to the polls on the second day of a three—day election that is almost certain to result in victory for incumbent president vladimir putin. but moscow said ukraine is intensifying its terrorist activities to signal to the west it needs more financial assistance and weaponry. russian authorities say two people were killed by ukrainian shelling in the city of belgorod near the border with ukraine. shops and schools were closed in the city. authorities also reported shelling at a voting station in a russian—occupied part of ukraine's zaporizhzhia region. the head of russia's electoral commission said there have been 20 incidents so far of people

targeting ballot boxes. protests could to continue on sunday when supporters of the late opposition figure alexei navalny are calling on people throughout russia to protest against president putin. meanwhile in the estonian town of narva, where many residents are russian, people crossed the border to vote in russia's presidential election. narva is one of only a handful of places where the border between the eu and russia is still open. bbc russian�*s oleg boldyrev sent this report. here in the estonian border town of narva lies the frontier between the western world and russia. across the river with its formidable fortress lies a town 170 kilometres away from st petersburg and this is one but a handful of places where the border between the eu and russia is still open. what is even more unusual is in this place and the surrounding region thousands of people are in fact russian citizens.

this is the legacy of the soviet union break—up. in the 19605 and �*70s people were brought from the soviet union to work in local industries and after the collapse of the soviet union they failed to get estonian citizenship. this is a source of bitter arguments between the residents and estonian authorities but the fact is that these people have applied and got russian passports and this means they can go and vote in the presidential elections which are taking place right now. the voting station is just across the bridge. there were not any big queues on this side of the border and we tried to look for people who crossed and most people were turning away. they are clearly not willing to talk about this and afraid that if they admit that they had voted it would somehow mean trouble for them. but one woman named anna was not afraid to talk. translation: i voted for putin. he is closer to my viewpoint. i understand him. i have no doubts about him. i think every president should care for his country and his people.

i see this in putin. i have a sister there, my husband's brother is there, our relatives are buried there, and to cut us apart is painful. we spoke to several more people who confirmed that they crossed the bridge and voted supporting mr putin. they were choosing their words very carefully. if they say they support mr putin and his war in ukraine it will certainly mean trouble for them here in estonia. their votes didn't matter much for mr putin as his victory is a foregone conclusion. narva illustrates a very complex situation that the baltic states are in, nervously watching their giant neighbours to the east, russia. oleg boldyrev, bbc news, in narva, estonia. now, estonia, has been one of the most vocal regional supporters of ukraine. those support efforts are led by estonia's prime minister kaja kallas, who is here in washington

tojoin us presidentjoe biden for the annual gridiron club dinner. before that, prime minister kallas spoke to my colleague, sumi somaskanda, about russia's elections, the war in ukraine and more. prime minister, thank you so much forjoining us here in the studio today. i want to start with the fact that russians are voting in an election that many consider to be neither free norfair and it will very likely secure another term for vladimir putin and russia. what does that mean for you and europe? i refuse to call it election. why they are playing this game, calling it an election, this is another question. it is to undermine actually our democracies and elections, saying that you have elections, we have elections. we know this is not an election butjust an appointment once again for putin. so what does it really change? in the short—term, probably nothing. after the reappointment there is going to be probably some difficult decisions

that we are going to see on the russian side, for example, the mobilisation, probably also trying to raise taxes or getting some income to fund the war machine because of their budget which is in a very poor state and they can't raise capital outside. and at the same time vladimir putin sees himself as emboldened and if you look at the eu and us approach, we have seen both impose more than 16,500 sanctions, 300 billion in assets frozen, but the russian economy has proven to be resilient. no, this is something that russia wants us to believe. this is the narrative that they want us to believe, that the sanctions are hurting you about not hurting us. it has china and india as buyers of oil. no, for example, gas. they have found buyers for only 5% of the gas that they used to sell to the european union.

they can't sell the gas outside so they don't have that income or if we take the budget, over 20% of it is in deficit and they can't raise loans outside because of the sanctions. plus we see that the interest rate for the russian central bank, interest rate for the russian economy is 15%. this is how they assess their economy doing. talk about your country's support for the ukraine, you've been one of the most vocal supporters. looking at the numbers, estonia recently sent an $80 million package and you have said over the next four years your country will provide military assistance amounting to 0.25% of your gdp, but on the ground the war seems to have ground to a standstill with russia threatening to push through ukraine's lines. are you worried that it is now russia that is on the offensive and perhaps turning

the tide in ukraine? the question is to ask how much aid we provide to ukraine so that we can defend themselves. we have made the calculation that if all the countries that are in the ramstein coalition, the countries supporting ukraine, could also announce this 0.25% of their gdp military aid for the next four years, we could outweigh russia. if you think about the defence budgets of the ramstein coalitions, they're 17 times bigger than russia's heavily inflated one. can but have not yet. we saw the meeting between 0laf scholz and president macron, concerns about disunity on their support for ukraine. does that worry you? there have been talks about us not being united but we have been united so far and every country counts what they can also do, so we have different roles and we have been in this together. i think what is important is that everyone understands

that ukraine must win this war, because otherwise the security architecture of europe but also the world is at stake, because why, if aggression pays off somewhere, it serves as an invitation to use it elsewhere. we have seen this already in history before. one question where has been disagreement on this the issue of boots on the ground. i know you've been asked about this quite a bit. the french president has raised it is one of the options on the table in the german chancellor said it won't happen, then the americans are also saying it won't happen. at what point would you deem it necessary for estonia to send the boots on the ground to ukraine? first of all, i think it is something we are always doing, that we are trying to guess what russia is doing next, so maybe this is a good situation, let them guess now what we are doing next, so this ambiguity is actually good, that we discuss these issues, what we are able to do or not. i think we shouldn't rule out any options because if we say very

certainly that this is not what we are going to do, then russia takes note. that, 0k, we can push this further. but when you think it would be necessary to send troops? it is under discussion, what kind of help can we give. it is not that we are sending or discussing about ground forces. this is not the issue. the issue is training ukrainian soldiers on the ground, providing help on the ground so that they can defend themselves really on the ground. so there are different options but we have to be open to discuss those. you have also been discussing in your country the russian position in europe and in february your country's foreign intelligence service warned russia is building and expanding its military in anticipation of a confrontation with the west, with nato in the next decade. if you look at what the german defence minister said he said it could happen in the next 5—8 years.

what are we talking about? are you worried about a russian attack on nato? it all depends on how we act in the case of ukraine. if we are able to provide ukraine with military assistance so that they are able to push back russia to its borders, we don't have to talk about who is next or what are the next steps. this is the case when we are not able to do our utmost to help ukraine to defend themselves. then we also have to see that they can go further. but you think estonia, your country and nato countries are in putn�*s line of vision? if every next step they have been bolder because they can, the aggressor is provoked by weakness. if he thinks that we are weak enough and he can win, then he takes of this step so that is very important that we also invest in our defence.

estonia is doing over 3% of its gdp and other allies are following. we are boosting the defence industry so that don't even think about us because we are strong enough and you can't win here. this is the signal we want to send. one of the biggest players in support for ukraine is the us and you know further funding here has been caught up in domestic politics as well. some republicans we have spoken to are sceptical that there is a clear path to victory in ukraine. what is your message to them? there is a clear path to victory and first of all we have to have victory as a goal, otherwise no wars are won unless you have a victory as a goal. what does that look like? 0ur defence ministry has done a long paper and what does the victory look like. the peace strategy that president zelensky has come up with has all the elements. accountability, going back to its borders, by russia.

all of it that i can't really list here but the point is we have to have a goal to win otherwise it is going to be more difficult for all of us. and coming to the us, if you think back to history then in the 1930s and �*40s, our economies, europe and america were not so interlinked as we are now. 45 states out of 50, the main export or investment partner is europe. american companies are earning 2.7 times more in europe than they are earning in asia. i'm not talking about china but asia. so if something happens in europe so that all of europe goes into war, then it definitely has a huge effect on america, like also history has shown.

it is an election here in the us, you have said that the answer to donald trump's criticism of nato is to spend more and commit more, also to the war in ukraine. but you saw as well after he hosted the hungarian prime ministerviktor 0rban, he said in an interview that donald trump wouldn't spend another penny on ukraine if elected. what do you think of that? it is concerning, of course. what is the plans of the us? i think donald trump wants america to be number one in the world. when the us stops supporting ukraine, then the us lets russia win and then america will not be the first but the second in the world because we are against the powers like russia, iran, china, north korea. so you don't think he necessarily would follow through on that? i don't see into his mind. i hope not because i have

talked to representatives on both sides of the aisle and they are very strongly in support of freedom, that they understand america is also about and this is also a fight forfreedom that is going on in ukraine. so that is the essence of the united states as well. i want to ask you one more question about what the responses could look like from russia. we have heard from vladimir putin, if there is this continued strength of the war in ukraine and if the us and all other countries continue to contribute, he has continued to raise the possibility of a nuclear threat. is that when you take seriously or are worried about? of course we have to take everything seriously what he says. he has been threatening with nuclear war for quite some time but it has been only words.

he is very good in sowing fear within our societies and really listing what we are afraid of and giving you the fears you have, you are afraid of nuclear war so i am giving out this kind of signal. and the public goes, whoa, and we can't do that. it is a trap. a trap of self—deterrence because if we are afraid then we start to self—deter and that is what putin wants. so we also have to think what putin is afraid of and he is actually afraid of going to war with nato. he doesn't want that. we of course don't want that either. it is, to understand the messages that he is giving out so that we would be afraid and refrain from the decisions that we would otherwise make. very good to have you on bbc news today, thank you. thank you.

after five months of war in gaza, pressure is growing inside israel for prime minister benjamin netanyahu to step down. protesters gathered in tel aviv on saturday to demand the return of israeli hostages and the resignation of mr netanyahu and his government. for the third saturday in a row, police used water cannon to disperse demonstrators. it comes just days after chuck schumer, the top democrat in the us senate as well as the highest—ranking jewish member in the us government, said mr netanyahu had "lost his way" and called for new elections in israel. mr schumer found sympathisers in saturday's protests. my message today, according to what chuck schumer said this week in the american parliament, about how benjamin netanyahu is leading us to catastrophe and we must have an election as soon as possible otherwise we are all going to be in a bad situation.

talks aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of hostages could resume sunday in qatar, as fears remain over the prospect of a large—scale invasion of rafah. egyptian officials said hamas has presented a new proposal for a three—stage plan to end the fighting. israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu has called the proposal unrealistic, but agreed to send israeli negotiators to qatar. meanwhile, a humanitarian aid shipment carrying 200 tons of food from cyprus has been unloaded onto gaza's shore. it's the first time in two decades that the sea route has been used. it's unclear though how the food will be distributed. the us charity world central kitchen is carrying out the mission in co—operation with the united arab emirates. the charity says a second aid ship is ready to go from cyprus. speaking before a two—day trip to the middle east, german chancellor 0laf scholz urged israel to allow unlimited humanitarian aid into gaza. translation: we have

a difficult situation. - it is necessary for aid to reach gaza on a larger scale. that is a topic i also have to talk about. we have concern about the further advancement of military developments. in particular, there is a danger that the large—scale offensive in rafah will result in many terrible civilian casualties which must be avoided at all costs. live now to gina abercrombie—winstanley, president of the middle east policy council and former us ambassador to malta. good to have you back with us again. gina, we've heard the ceasefire talks could begin again on sunday. israel has already called hamas�* proposal unrealistic. what are your thoughts on whether we could see a breakthrough here? iremain i remain confident that a breakthrough is possible stop

we have to keep in mind that all of this is part of the negotiations, posturing is part of that, and you can the words of that, and you can the words of the israeli prime minister, of the israeli prime minister, of the israeli prime minister, of the hamas proposal being unrealistic, but he also must focus on the actions which is that it focus on the actions which is thatitis focus on the actions which is that it is delegation is going back to talk. i think that is important. back to talk. i think that is important-— back to talk. i think that is imortant. . , , if you look at the deal, it's a softer stance from hamas — a temporary ceasefire from hamas and the release of a0 of 100 of the israeli hostages. is that important for netanyahu who has a battle at home with calls for his nation and protests continuing? what do you think is his endgame? we have to you think is his endgame? - have to keep in mind that both sides are under stupendous pressure at this point. the

prime minister, pressure from his own people about getting the hostages home and recognising that the most successful way has been through negotiations. hamas is also under stupendous pressure, the destruction of the gaza strip is something that everyone has seen and recognises. hamas needs some kind of victory, suddenly getting prisoners out will help it understatement that are coming out of the united states on the one hand also add additional pressure to the israeli side. i am certain that there is pressure on hamas from our partners in the regions, from qatar mac, egyptians, to figure out a way to get the deal done.— to get the deal done. let's touch more _ to get the deal done. let's touch more on _ to get the deal done. let's touch more on the - to get the deal done. let's touch more on the recent. touch more on the recent statements are just alluded to from the united states stop president biden for example has said that the potential for that operation in the southern city of rafah we know we have about half of the palestinian population currently sheltering, he has said that

that would be a red line. since then we also heard from netanyahu appearing to neta nyahu appearing to greenlight netanyahu appearing to greenlight it. where does that leave washington, president biden, if the operation goes ahead? it biden, if the operation goes ahead? , . ., ., ahead? it is clear that the president _ ahead? it is clear that the president has _ ahead? it is clear that the president has growing - president has growing impatience with the prime minister's willingness to push him in a very difficult position. the president has been extraordinarily generous in his support to israel's need to re—establish safety for its citizens and he has given support to the prime minister that has made clear that the support is for israel, is for the israeli people, not necessarily leadership. so the prime minister is putting him in a difficult position where we have got, as you noted, senator schumer see that this won't fly for a long time, secretary of state even after the prime minister greenlight it, he said we have not seen a planet we need to see, that

will ensure that civilians are protected if there is an incursion into rafah. so it is very clear that this may be a breaking point with regard to how the united states gives the support of the israeli leadership. i'm not all suggesting that there is going to be some amazing break or a complete cessation of weapons going to israel because of the fact that relationship is a long—standing and important, but there will be a breaking point and how this is done. what you think could potentially look like? is there a potentialfor potentially look like? is there a potential for it to go past, for example, words, comments, the likes of which we have seen from senator schumer and then praised by president biden? briefly, if you don't mind. certainly. we have had times in the past where the relationship has been in difficult times. president reagan stopped

sending weapons to israel at one point. therapy difficulties with president bush senior. it can get difficult and i would argue that perhaps a harder scribe and a delay things going to israel, the type of things we said, these are all raised with the most dramatic protection in united states, always we could modify the relationship. gina abercrombie—winstanley, president of the middle east policy council and former us ambassador to malta. always appreciate your analysis. thank you so much. now to haiti, where the us state department says it will arrange a charter flight for us citizens to evacuate from the northern city of cap—haitien. it comes with more than 350,000 people are internally displaced in haiti by gang—related violence and the deepening humanitarian crisis. meanwhile, police in haiti are trying to crack down on the gangs which have taken control of most of the capital,

port—au—prince, and forced the prime minister to resign. the united nations has described the security situation as tense and volatile and warns that increasing numbers of children in haiti are going hungry. 0ur correspondent, will grant, is on the ground in haiti and he gave me the latest a little earlier. what is the latest you can tell us about that? it appears there was quite an extensive swat team operation in an area of the capital. that is where it is known to be one of the strongholds. clearly they were trying to either capture him or kill him but they were successful in neither of those attempts. there were a number of casualties on the side of the gangs by all accounts but if anything it is going to beget more violence. we have heard today of more shooting in the capital and a quite fierce response from the gangs to the operation

by the police. it sort of paints the picture of what is going on. a cat and mouse game is going on in the neighbourhoods where the police are obviously outnumbered by the gangs at this stage unless they get serious reinforcements in the coming weeks and months. will grant willgrant in haiti. before we go, i want to bring you some incredible live pictures from iceland. a volcano in iceland has erupted for the fourth time since december, spewing lava into the air. police declared a state of emergency for the area, which is just south of the capital, reykjavik. it has been badly affected and evacuated. i am it has been badly affected and evacuated. iam helena humphrey. we will have more at the top of the hour so join humphrey. we will have more at the top of the hour sojoin me. hello there. at last some beautiful spring sunshine for much of the uk on saturday including here in cumbria. it wasn't long before we saw the cloud thicken from the west before outbreaks of rain moving northwards and eastwards. this will come down as rain over wales for a time into central

and southern england and eastern england so a soggy start to the day but it is a mild one, milder than it was on saturday morning. temperatures between 5—11 degrees. double figures in the south still. a mild start of the day, more sunshine on offer throughout the day on sunday but also a few showers in the afternoon. it's a very wet start for parts of southern england. the heavy rain clears over the north sea. here it should brighten up by lunchtime and perhaps more sunshine developing. sunny spells elsewhere. coastal and hill fog for a time across the west. it will cloud over northern ireland in the afternoon. outbreaks of rain here, some of the shower is heavy and thundery the northern england but mild again, we could see 17 celsius in east anglia as we head through the afternoon. looking to the west again as we had through sunday night and into monday, various weather fronts approaching. these are fizzling out. there will be rain in the north and west throughout the night and then it is a bit of patchy cloud

as we head through much of monday. for most of us on monday it will stay dry, clouding over, outbreaks of rain over northern ireland and western scotland by the end of the day. the air is still mild. again, temperatures will peak in the teens for many. keeping that mild air heading through monday and tuesday with that southwesterly wind. on tuesday we are likely to see more heavy rain across the north and the west. so for northern ireland and the western scotland. elsewhere i think it'll stay largely dry as we had throughout the day. a lot of the cloud will break up and we will see brighter spells developing. all eyes out towards the southwest by the time we get to the end of tuesday because this rain could cause some problems perhaps on wednesday. but the air is still very mild on tuesday, 12—16 celsius. it could turn cooler as we head through wednesday and thursday. it stays unsettled, more rain forecast at times. bye— bye.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we will have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. we're so happy. yeah, we're justjoyful.

so, on the mayor, we're 57.6% of results. we have a long way to go. we've got some water coming upstairs. i know it's hot here. please keep the effort... cheering gunfire abdullah, can you hear me? abdullah, we need help. we need help. we're in the party office. they're firing live bullets at us. we're on the floor and the tear gas is coming. we need help.