i'm sumi somaskanda, welcome to our show. european and north american leaders are gathered here in washington to kick off the nato summit. a central topic during the gathering will be the war in ukraine and the possible path to nato membership for the country. a short while ago, ukrainian president vladimir zelensky emphasised the need for more air defence and security to help his forces counter russia's deadly airstrikes and reduce civilian casualties. us presidentjoe biden vowed to aid ukraine against those attacks, announcing plans to supply new air defences to ukraine in an opening speech at the summit. the us along with other nato allies will send at least four patriot systems according to a newjoint agreement. mr biden also sent this warning to russian president vladimir putin on the alliance�*s growing strength. all we allies knew, before this war putin thought nato would break. today nato is stronger than it has ever been in its history.

when this senseless war began, ukraine was a free country. today, it is still a free country and the war will end with ukraine remaining a free and independent country. russia will not prevail! ukraine will prevail. the north atlantic treaty organisation was founded 75 years ago, after the end of world war ii, by the us, canada and several western european nations as a collective security alliance against the soviet union. nato has expanded its goals over the years, including tackling climate change and cyber attacks. since russia's fullscale invasion, sweden and finland have joined the alliance and it is expected that ukraine will as well but not all nato members agree on the country's membership. importance of women's rights and security was highlighted at the conference on tuesday. the

us secretary of state said they would commit more than $7 million in protective gearfor female ukrainian soldiers. a spokesman briefed officials on the security of woman and talked about the role of gender and how it plays in global politics. i and how it plays in global olitics. ., �* ~' and how it plays in global olitics. ., �* ~ ., , politics. i don't think many --eole politics. i don't think many peeple are _ politics. i don't think many people are aware - politics. i don't think many people are aware that - politics. i don't think many i people are aware that women soldiers around the world have on battle gear that has been made to the proportions of men's bodies not women's. so this is the first time that the nato special representative for women peace and security actually commissioned body armour, military uniforms that are made for women's bodies and thatis are made for women's bodies and that is notjust more comfortable for women soldiers but also more protective. this is potentially _ but also more protective. this is potentially an _ but also more protective. this is potentially an initiative that could be rolled out even

further? ~ , , ., , ., further? absolutely, many of the nato allies _ further? absolutely, many of the nato allies in _ further? absolutely, many of the nato allies in fact - further? absolutely, many of the nato allies in fact today | the nato allies in fact today committed to contributing further to expand this initiative and make it available more broadly. for more on — available more broadly. for more on ukraine's - available more broadly. for more on ukraine's need for more air defences i spoke with deputy pentagon press secretary sabrina singh. one of the factors being discussed at this nato summit is a pathway to nato summit is a pathway to nato membership for ukraine. can you give us an idea of what that bridge looks like and how long or short that pathway is? thanks for having me on, i don't have an exact timeline to provide on when ukraine will become a nato member but what the president has said and so many members of of this administration along with nato allies, it is not a matter of if but when so we are committed to ukraine's long—term security, they also have work to do to gain membership into

the alliance and it is not a us decision. this is a decision made by 32 countries part of the alliance but again, as you mentioned, this is a bridge to them joining nato i don't have an exact timeline to provide. do you understand some of the frustration on the ukrainian side, we spoke with the speaker of the ukrainian parliament who said we are fighting with nato weapons and we have the support of nato allies and we want this to happen soon? we of nato allies and we want this to happen soon?— to happen soon? we totally understand _ to happen soon? we totally understand but _ to happen soon? we totally understand but they - to happen soon? we totally understand but they are - to happen soon? we totally understand but they are in l to happen soon? we totally i understand but they are in the middle of a war and they have to meet different requirements that nato does require of all of its members. membership does take time. it is important to remember that our commitment to ukraine is enduring, we want to see them be part of this membership, you saw the commitment that came out vilnius, you are seeing them reaffirmed again in washington, dc with the nato summit happening today and throughout the week, there is no question about whether ukraine will

become a nato member and i don't have a timeline to provide, it is not a matter of if but a matter of when and we are working with them and our commitment to them remain strong for them in the short term with what we are providing with them for military assistance and in the long—term. assistance and in the long-term.— assistance and in the long-term. assistance and in the iona-term. ~ , ., long-term. we spoke to the cheers of — long-term. we spoke to the cheers of the _ long-term. we spoke to the cheers of the house - long-term. we spoke to the cheers of the house foreign | cheers of the house foreign affairs committee �*s and intelligence yesterday and they said the success of ukraine is being held up by certain long—range artillery there are restrictions on the system is being able to fire into russian territory, ukrainians are fighting with hands tied behind their backs. what is your response to that? i their backs. what is your response to that? i would push back on that — response to that? i would push back on that notion. _ response to that? i would push back on that notion. what - back on that notion. what ukrainians as have attack �*s and other long—range capabilities provided by other nations, while there is a focus on those armaments they are our other long—range capabilities like the scout missiles, in terms of what united states has

put conditions around, there is this cross—border cross via that we have committed the training to use especially when russians are firing from positions within russia towards ukraine, we are seeing ukraine be incredibly successful and effective on the battlefield. it is important to remember during the entire time we were not able to provide ukraine, presidential drawdown packages or military assistance due to the fact congress did not give a supplementalfunding, a supplemental funding, russian—made incremental gains, so ukraine has been very successful on the battlefield and continues to push russian forces back in the south and the east. forces back in the south and the east-— forces back in the south and the east. ., ., the east. the hungarian prime minister a _ the east. the hungarian prime minister a nato _ the east. the hungarian prime minister a nato ally _ the east. the hungarian prime minister a nato ally at - the east. the hungarian prime minister a nato ally at the - minister a nato ally at the same time as holding talks with the russian leader and china's leader and is calling for a ceasefire, for that to be an important topic of discussion. with us support such a

ceasefire talk at the summit? that is ready for ukraine to decide which are of this war and if they are ready to sit down and negotiate at the table thatis down and negotiate at the table that is not something for the us to dictate, what the us is doing and right here at the pentagon what we're doing is making sure has whatever they need for the short—term and long—term to be successful on the battlefield. that is our focus and for that question it is up to ukraine to decide when they have these conversations and what that looks like. ukraine's president has arrived in washington on a mission to boost support from allies. . in a speech on the sidelines, zelensky called for more assistance. we can limit russian actions in southern ukraine and push the occupier if american leadership assist us with the necessary

deep strike capabilities. those remarks follow _ deep strike capabilities. those remarks follow a _ deep strike capabilities. those remarks follow a missile - deep strike capabilities. those| remarks follow a missile strike that killed a0 people in kyiv and let the largest children's hospital in ruins. world leaders have condemned the attack including the us prime minister and the uk president. mr lenski says moscow must be held accountable for the attack. james waterhouse has more from the scene. you may find some of the images in his report, upsetting. "oh, my god," she says, "i don't know whose hand that is, "i don't know if my daughter is alive." the frantic seconds of a mother looking for her child. a russian missile had just hit the hospital where her daughter had been receiving dialysis. after a relative eternity, she finds her alive, with a few scratches.

after being reunited, we meet them at the hospital her daughter was transferred to, where they return to those haunting moments. translation: i told my husband on the phone. — "i don't know if i'll survive and if our daughter is alive." i had debris falling on me in the basement and my child was upstairs on the second floor. i didn't know what was happening to her. it seemed we would be buried alive. translation: i fainted. when i opened my eyes, i saw ceiling right next to my face. i was praying my mother was alive. it's a view you wouldn't have seen yesterday — for a ukrainian emergency worker, demolition is firmly part of thejob description.

kyiv has strongly rejected moscow's claim this was caused bya ukrainian air defence missile, saying it has evidence it was russian and deliberately launched. this attack has posed difficult questions for ukraine. several cruise missiles hit their targets in the centre of the city and, as far as kyiv is concerned, the need for air defences has never been greater. missiles do terrorise, but thus far they haven't weakened ukrainian resolve, but if the risk to life increases, that will only impact morale. valentina, a nurse, was working here when the attack happened. she tells us some of the hospital's 600 or so patients now can't access critical care. translation: here we help children - with complicated diseases. it is a horror for ukraine and for everyone. we ask the world to stop this war, to stop this nightmare,

for our children not to suffer. large scale missile strikes are common in war—time ukraine, but this one has especially caused political shockwaves because of who and what it hit. kyiv wants to convert this western shock into more military support. james waterhouse, bbc news, kyiv. around the world and across uk, this is bbc news. to some other headlines from the uk: a drunk driver who killed an eight—month—old baby and his aunt has beenjailed for 17 years at durham crown court. darryl anderson was taking pictures of himself behind the wheel when he crashed into another car on the ai in county durham. he was travelling at more than iao miles an hour and breath tests were three times over the legal alcohol limit. sir keir starmer addressed parliament for the first time as prime minister today, following labour's landslide victory in the general election. the speaker of the commons has also been selected while the process of swearing in more than 600 mps has begun.

earlier, sir keir met england's regional mayors, promising to build what he described as a "real partnership." and electronics company dyson says it plans to cut around a thousand jobs in the uk, that's nearly one third of its workforce, in a major restructuring programme. they say the proposals will help it prepare for the future. currently have more than 300 employees. the firm known for its innovative take on household appliances, including vacuum cleaners, hairdryers and fans, is based in wiltshire with offices in london and bristol. you're watching bbc news. as a us presidentjoe biden took to the world stage speakng at that nato summit, house and senate democrats met in private to discuss the future of his re—election campaign as a number have raised fears about the 81—year—old's viability as the party's nominee. our north america correspondent nomia iqbal has more. the press briefing was more muted today than it was yesterday. we saw that combative exchange between some members of the american press and the press secretary

karine jean—pierre. there are those journalists here who feel that the white house not been fully honest with them about the president's health — something that the press secretary has completely denied and at these briefings, you can ask any questions you want and the white house of course very much wanting to be focused on the nato summit. it is a big moment for president biden to show he is a world leader but of course it is a big test for him, but the questions were still dominated by concerns, questions about the president's health. they wanted clarification about this neurologist that had visited the white house several times this year. clarification on the letter that president biden sent out, saying that he is staying in the race. also today, you've had closed—door meetings by house democrats who have been more vocal about president biden and their concerns, and the senate democrats who, while they have not explicitly been calling for mr biden to stand down, they have not really been coalescing around him either. the concerns are still ongoing in terms of mr biden�*s

health and the questions that a lot of the press feel are not being answered, but as far as the white house is concerned, coming out of that press briefing, it is time to move on. they believe there are more people in the democratic party who are in that camp of "let's move on." "president biden is running, end of story," as opposed to those in the other camp who want mr biden to prove himself more and there is no doubt that at this week's nato summit, he will holding a press conference later this week, he will be hugely scrutinised and pretty much every step he takes and everything he says will be looked at more closely than it ever has been before. i spoke to molly boulet senior correspondent at the wall streetjournal and robert street journal and robert koster for more streetjournal and robert koster for more on the 202a race.

i will start with rob in the studio. what is your reporting telling you about where democrats stand right now? we have seen democrat senator michael bennett come out and call for president biden to bow out of the race? senator bennett might be doing that but those who have real political capital with president biden are not urging him to get out of the race. there is widespread frustration among my democratic sources around president biden�*s handling of the debate and they wished that he was better prepared, well rested, but there is an acceptance that he is the nominee. what has been made clear to democrats that have a different view that someone else should step up is that anyone who has talked to president biden privately say he is more insistent than ever, that he has been counted out before in the 1970s, no—one thought he could win a senate seat in �*72, everyone thought his career was over

in 87—98 when his presidential campaign flamed out. people thought he was a terrible politician in 2007 and 2008 and only to be picked as vice president, so he has this innate sense of confidence despite the debate that carries him ahead, and it is really part of the american political history. you read one of the great books on politics — what it takes — and biden barrels ahead and maybe he is making the wrong calculation but he has decided publicly and privately that he is in. molly, do you see anything changing that calculation at this point? absolutely. i think the situation is fluid because so many democrats continue to harbour these doubts and, indeed, it may even be a majority of democrats. certainly, it is a near majority of the democratic base, according to the polls, have lost confidence in biden as their nominee and many of the democrats coming out and publicly saying that they are with biden harbour these

concerns privately and behind the scenes and i think a lot of them are continuing to watch and wait to see whether there is a further decline in the polls which have already declined in the couple of weeks since the debate, and what biden continues to look like as he continues to step out into the spotlight. in particular, the press conference he is scheduled to have as part of the nato summit will be closely watched. he gave a very vigorous speech today and that gave a lot of democrats some comfort, but they are still worried that it is just not a tenable situation for the next several months. so, there is a desire not to damage the party given that the president has, as bob correctly said, made it quite clear that he will not go without a fight, but many democrats are not happy about where things stand and would like him to either reconsider or do something more to prove that the debate was in fact an aberration because many of his public appearances since then have similarly not

inspired confidence. it is interesting — if i canjust come in here — i was in new hampshire talking at people at the red arrow diner, and it was so interesting to me as a reporter, because in washington, all of these people with their own jobs on the line, senators, house members, they are very much panicked and alarmed by the polling because they think they could get washed out. but voters who i encountered, especially older voters, older democrats in new hampshire, said "the party has decided. let's just stick with it." there is a reluctance to have what the voters believe would be a civil war in the party if you had some kind of free for all ahead of the convention and biden clearly seems to sense this among his own coalition,

this sense that they are are going to stick with him. he went on cable television and said "if you want to run against me, run against me." he knows people like gavin newsome and the governor of michigan have no interest as brutus of the democratic party. they are looking towards 2028 and trying to shore up this campaign. molly, let's talk about the other side of the equation because donald trump has been holding a rally in miami tonight. we are expecting his vice presidential pick perhaps monday next week at the convention. at the moment, it appears down to three people — senator rubio, senator vance and senator burgin. do you have a sense of where things might fall? no, if i did, iwould be breaking that big scoop. that is a situation that remains a somewhat fluid. as we have long experienced with reporting on donald trump, he makes his own decisions and keeps his own counsel and he is being lobbied by advocates for all three

of those men and possibly some others besides. i think no—one would be surprised if he chooses to go in another direction at the last minute simply to show that he can or because that is the mood that he is in. he has said a few times that he already knows what direction he is going to go in. i have been reporting this week on senatorj.d. vance who has been in elected office for less than two years but who some view as being on top of that shortlist for vice president. when and if trump does make a choice it will give us a sense of how he sees his movement and his potential presidency, but i don't think anyone really knows at this point exactly who it is going to be. as molly noted, it is always fluid with former president trump. in 2016, i remember making calls to sources people close to chris christie. they all thought that christie

or gingritch would be the pick but it ended up being indiana governor mike pence. this time, people close to senator vance and other contenders, they are all feeling relatively good but trump is a showman. love him or hate him, he is somebody who comes out of the television business, reality tv. he said this week he want to do it at the convention with as much fanfare as possible. he said he might announce a senator rubio in florida and he did not but this gives you a sense that he wants it to happen at the convention in milwaukee and campaign sources tell me they are just fine right now letting the democrats fight amongst each other. there is so much more to talk about but we have run out of time. bob, molly, thank you for your insights tonight. really appreciate it. now to some other news — israel continued its military offensive in gaza on the eve of renewed truce talks in qatar.

29 people were killed after an airstrike on a school in gaza. the number is expected to rise. it hit the gate at the school. israel says it is looking into the incident. it comes a day before ceasefire negotiations are expected to continue. egyptian media is reporting that an egyptian security delegation and us central intelligence authorities will be in attendance but as our correspondence explains this could put those talks in jeopardy. many palestinian families had saught safety and shelter at this school in the city of khan younis and it seems lots of people where there when this missile struck. there is a video on social media that shows more than a dozen people dead and other people very badly injured, being treated at the local hospital. one medical source saying that more than 50 people had been treated so far and the nature of some of their injuries

means that the number of dead could well increase. now, this operation in the city of khan younis started about a week ago. the israeli military say they have been carrying this out. we know tens of thousands of people have fled the fighting there. this recent operation that started. in terms of what happened tonight, the israeli military say they are looking into reports. we have seen four attacks on schools in the past four days, and in the previous three cases, the israeli military acknowledge that they hit these particular places saying they were home to hamas fighters, hamas politicians and also hamas police officers. the israelis saying that they seek to minimise civilian casualties in all of their operations. hamas is saying this sort of operation and the number of people dying means that it is really undermining prospects of a peace deal. a ceasefire in which some hostages may well be released. there are talks that are going to get under way

tomorrow in doha, as it stands no imminent signs of any sort of breakthrough. let's ta ke let's take a quick look at other headlines now. a court in moscow has issued an arrest warrant forjulian duvalier on charges of extremism the widow of alexei navalny who died in an arctic prison in february. it is reported the charges brought against her are to do with her alleged participation in an extremist community. she is not currently in russia. the jury is not currently in russia. the jury has been seeded in alex baldwin �*s roster shooting trial, today he arrived at a mexico courthouse to attend the start of the trial to determine if he should be held liable on the 2021 shooting of the cinematographer alina hutchinson. he has pleaded guilty to felony in

manslaughter, opening statements expected to begin on wednesday. europe's new rocket blasted off on its first successful flight from french guyana, it sent satellites in orbit, it marks a new start to restoring independent pen access to space. it comes a year after its predecessor was retired, leaving europe with no independent way to launch satellites, set by partly due to the severing of connections with russia over ukraine. thank you for watching bbc news. hello. thanks forjoining me. well, it does feel like summer has come to an abrupt end. or perhaps it never started in the first place. and more rain clouds on the horizon for the rest of this week, but here's some good news, at least it's not going to be raining all the time. i want to show you the big picture first and where the jet stream is relative to the uk. here it is over the next few days. to the south of us.

now north of the jet stream, we generally have cool air. south of the jet stream we generally have warm air. notice where it is over the coming days — to the south of us. that means we get that air stream from the north and with a rippling jet stream. we also have weather patterns heading our way and, in fact, a lot of rain to come in the coming days, particularly across northern parts of the uk. in fact, the northeast of scotland in the next 2a hours, particularly soggy with this weather system here. that rain unrelenting here, particularly in the northeast highlands, in grampian. to the south by the end of the night, i think, just a few scattered showers, but it is relatively humid air, so that means that the temperatures aren't dropping particularly low overnight, say ia degrees first thing in the morning. now here's wednesday, low pressure to the north. so that rain that i mentioned, in the north and the east of scotland, the met office is pointing to 20—30mm of rain quite widely. in the extreme case it could be double, even triple that. so really, really wet across this part of the world. to the south, scattered showers,

maybe some thunderstorms. but i think come the afternoon there will be some sunshine in the south of the uk. and that, of course, is good news for wimbledon because the weather has been dreadful. however, there is a rain symbol there for wednesday. that's to indicate the showers we should have in the morning, but come the afternoon it will be better. now, high pressure is close by. it's just in the wrong position. we're on the edge of the high, so that means that the winds are coming in from the north. so really cool air sliding across the uk with showers and again rather a lot of cloud. look at the temperatures. ia in aberdeen. we might squeeze 22 or 23 in the southeast of the country, if there will be some prolonged sunny spells, but the outlook into the weekend really says it all. it's that mixed bag and it is on the cool side forjuly. bye— bye.

voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. these are tough times for ukraine. russian forces are relentlessly attacking kyiv�*s defensive front lines and bombarding the country with missiles. ukraine remains dependent on military and economic assistance from its allies, and the future of that support is by no means guaranteed. so is momentum swinging decisively the kremlin�*s way? well, my guest, ilya ponomarev, is a former russian mp now fighting on ukraine's side and committed to the overthrow of vladimir putin. how significant is this russian resistance movement?