congratulations! the agreement on strengthening the security of the american border, on which the fate of the request for additional funding for ukraine depends, was in danger of failure. according to senator chris murphy, who is directly involved in the negotiations, it will be clear in the next two days whether the democrats and republicans will be able to reach an agreement. he, as well as republican senator mitt tromney , point to the influence of former us president donald trump on the negotiations. according to press reports that refer to sources in the republic. party, donald trump wants to make border and migration issues one of the leading issues in his presidential campaign, and the deal is not in his favor right now. let's talk about what we know at this moment and what it means for ukraine with my colleague ostap yarysh, who joins the broadcast from the pentagon. ostape, hello, so even yesterday the leaders of both democrats and republicans sounded optimistic about a potential agreement and about the possibility and importance of supporting ukraine, what has changed in these 24 hours and... is

the former president really trying to influence progress of negotiations? yes, indeed, we are talking now primarily about the senate and you are right yesterday and the session hall of the senate, the leaders of the republicans and democrats chuck schumar, mitch mcconnell sounded quite confident and insisted that the approval of funding for ukraine is critically important for the national interests of the united states, and for unlocking it would require them to strike a deal on us border security, and the senators hoped they would come close. to some kind of inter-party compromise and that after all this is bi-partisan a consensus between democrats and republicans regarding the southern border will be found, this would also allow the issue of ukraine to be moved. however, already in the evening, a number of american media, citing their own sources , reported that senator mitch mcconnell, the leader of the republicans in the senate , told his fellow party colleagues at a meeting behind closed doors that he was no longer sure whether it was worth moving forward with this bipartisan agreement. to the security of the southern

border of the united states, citing that his party was in a difficult position position through the 2024 political campaign . the american media write that this may be related to the pressure of donald trump on american lawmakers, ah, and his reluctance to solve this, this is the border issue now, because according to american journalists, they say, it could add points to joe biden before the election, and it is not in the interests of donald trump, they write about it. the american media now, what happened yesterday, an analyst, a political analyst of the foundation together, yes klein, comments to kateryna lisunova, come on let's listen senator mitch mcconnell, who has always been a very strong supporter of ukraine, just earlier this week said that we have to agree on aid to ukraine, we have to reach an agreement on the border, we already... this evening

he is reported to be saying: president trump wants to run for office this year, bringing up the issue of immigration, and we don't want to obstruct him, we don't want to solve the immigration issue and get rid of an issue that he, trump, can build a campaign on, that's an amazing reversal of mcconnell's position. julia, however, it appears now, it appears now , that there is no unity on this issue, even within the republican party of those... the reports we're seeing from capital hill, including midromney, sen., r-suite, say that any intervention by trump in a way that is terrifying. other senators are saying that cutting off negotiations on the southern border security agreement, and thus potential funding for ukraine, would be simply tragic right now. other senators, for example, todiang, also a republican, talks about that we'll probably have to look for a plan b if these talks get stuck right now, yule, but again... we'll be watching, as

chris murphy, another democratic senator, said, how things play out over the next two days. ostape, if the negotiations on the border do fail, there will be no agreement, what could this mean for the request for funding for ukraine? julia, there are actually a lot of questions here. the first question is whether it will then be possible to put a vote for ukraine, israel and other partners separately from the agreement on the security agreement on the security agreement on the american border, will they wait for some plan b and look for ways. bypassing, and probably the most basic question, yulia, how much longer can it last? unfortunately, there is no answer here. kateryna lisonova once again asked doug klein, a political analyst together, about the possible consequences of this situation. here is his assessment. that's why everyone is worried now, if trump directly intervenes in the process, will it destroy any chance of reaching an agreement to help ukraine?

senate leadership is reportedly now discussing the attempt to separate the issue of ukraine and the us border in order to provide assistance to ukraine and other foreign partners, israel and... without connecting it to immigration issues, we have to watch how it ends. now all these questions are hanging in the air, and many are asking whether this general aid package, which includes the issue of the border between ukraine and the united states, can already be considered broken. julia, today also at the pentagon, here at the briefing, i asked the deputy spokesperson of the department, sabrina singh, what are the risks of not approving this assistance? she replied that she believed that american lawmakers. understand the importance of this issue and understand what the consequences may be and she believes that in the end this aid will be approved, let's hear the answer. well, i think it's certainly a concern if we can't continue to support ukraine, and i

really think that members of congress from both parties understand the impact that that will have, but i will say that it's important that it's not just the united states right now support ukraine. our allies and partners have stepped up. in terms of training, funding and support, so it's not just the united states, but the united states' support for ukraine is incredibly important in showing a unified message not only to europe, to russia, but to the whole world. our support, as you heard from the president himself, is unwavering, and we will support ukraine as long as it takes. i truly believe that there are members of congress on both sides of the aisle who also believe in this and want to do the right thing and make a statement. we will continue to monitor how it develops this situation, the situation on the capitoline hill, my colleague ostap yarysh was in contact with the pentagon.

western observers call the senate committee's approval of a draft law, which can lay a legal path to such actions, a great victory and an important step on the way to the confiscation of frozen russian assets. what are the chances of this bill being approved by the whole congress. when can the usa begin to confiscate russian assets and transfer them to ukraine, and are they ready for such steps in europe? we will talk about all this with our economic columnist oksana bedrytenko, who now joins the broadcast. oksana, hello. congratulations, yulia. oksano, a us senate committee has approved a bill that paves the way for confiscation of russian assets. it happened the day before. what is the significance of this step and how do experts comment on it? indeed, yulia, now the supporters of transferring to ukraine the infected russian assets are celebrating the victory, the senate, the senate committee approved a bill the day before, if this bill becomes law, then the president of the united states, joe biden, will receive the authority to seize russian assets seized on the territory of the united states

and transfer them to ukraine. it is finally becoming a reality, so tweeted the famous human rights activist and financier bill browder. in response to this bill, others are calling it a big step forward, here are just a few tweets about it. a large-scale victory in the promotion of congress on the front of frozen russian assets. this is great news for ukraine, for allies in the free world, for the survival of democracy in the world, for everyone except, of course, the criminal vladimir putin, because the frozen billions in his country are growing soon. and will be directed to the reconstruction of ukraine. oksana, only a small part of russian assets are frozen in the united states. the main part, more than a hundred billion dollars in europe. is europe ready to confiscate these assets in favor of ukraine? that's right, yulia, now we are talking about 5

billion dollars, which the us government has identified as those that are under the jurisdiction of the us itself. this is the usual relatively small part of the 300. which are frozen around the world and the largest some of them are frozen in europe. today i spoke with the former president of the world bank and us deputy secretary of state bob zoelik. he is one of the most influential activists who are trying to convince the world community to transfer these russian assets to ukraine, and he is convinced that the move is precisely from the side of america. urges europe to act, because there are many supporters in the world of transferring these russian assets to ukraine. canada is supportive, britain is very supportive. david cameron, the new foreign secretary , also spoke about it. i think japan

will support challenges mainly arise from europeans, a significant part of these reserves in belgium on the euroclear account, as you may know, europeans. is now focusing on overcoming orbán's opposition from hungary to the new funding package, that's their priority and that's good, they're trying to push the funding, and they're also working on... they're slow on the issue of russian central bank reserves, their approach is to use the belgian legislation to collect taxes on these assets is a complex legal issue, and i hope that the steps taken by the usa and the group of seven will push europe to transfer these funds, because this is not only about money, it is necessary to show putin and the ukrainian people that russia will not last longer than ukraine. 300 billion dollars will provide assistance to ukraine. not long, and it will show that putin and moscow will not last longer than ukraine and the west.

oksana, what exactly worries the europeans, as this expert said? two main arguments are put forward: firstly, that it can damage the confidence in the euro and the dollar, other countries will not keep their assets in this currency, and also, that it might drag on. to be honest, central bankers and bankers in general, especially european bankers, are a bit cautious, they are worried about the impact on the euro, i think they are too hesitant, there are issues of international law, and frankly, this move, this principle of countermeasures, has been supported by world- class lawyers in britain, belgium, japan, the united states and australia, and we helped arrange for such lawyers to appease berlin and paris in some way. and others who are somewhat hesitant. as you know, european countries treat russia differently, some of them

says that it will be like reparations after the first world war. i believe that this analogy does not hold up, because germany surrendered after the war and accepted the peace agreement. it was a vulnerable democracy. this is not about putin's moscow at all. to put it bluntly, kyiv is more suited to the role of a vulnerable democracy struggling for survival. that is, everything depends on it . answer, but it is a prisoner of european politics, which is somewhat slow. so, to answer your question, it is important that this is from the voice of america, i think the us government should push more on this. administration biden is finally pressing the europeans, but i and others raised this issue a year ago and worked with the senate foreign relations committee. that is why you saw this bill yesterday. therefore, i hope that the action of the senate and the house of representatives, and later the action. congress will generally push the administration to pressure the europeans on this issue,

it's moving slower than we'd like, but it's a good step and a good signal to the people in kyiv. here's a comment from bob zelek, the former head of the world bank, here he is again commented that what concerns europeans have now regarding the potential confiscation of russian frozen assets and how this case is being sought from the united states, again at the beginning, as oksana bedratenko, our economic columnist, said , the step of approval of the relevant bill by one of the senate committees. oksana bedratenko, our economic columnist, was in touch and we talked about this issue. we look honor, continue the release. on thursday , at the request of russia, the un security council will meet for an... emergency meeting regarding the situation with the fall of il-76. earlier in the day, russian officials said

ukraine received a warning that the plane was carrying prisoners of war 15 minutes before it entered the airspace where the crash occurred. ukrainian intelligence claims that kyiv did not receive a warning about guaranteeing the safety of the airspace around belgorod. ukraine still cannot confirm whether there were ukrainian prisoners of war on board the russian plane and demands an investigation. international investigation, who will be responsible, if there were ukrainians on board il-76 and what to expect from the meeting of the security council, maria ulyanovska was told about this by an expert in national and international criminal law and former deputy prosecutor general of ukraine gunduz memedov. mr. memedov, i congratulate you, please analyze this incident from the point of view of international law, first of all it is important to wait for official data from the ukrainian side. regarding the fate of ukrainian prisoners of war, it is very difficult, important, and we must remember that russian propaganda

is always in a hurry under any circumstances, to blame ukraine, this is their typical strategy , it was so17 and olenskaya was so, if you analyze the message of russian propaganda, then they do not take into account one important thing, that is, the trenev conve that the certification of a prisoner of war, according to it , the state that holds the prisoner bears responsibility under the conditions of prisoners of war, and... conditions no less favorable than those in which the troops of the captive state are moved, that is, they used, as it is not known, used a military aircraft, which until at that time, it always transported weapons and

dealt with, let's say, weapons, well, always military... equipment, military equipment, it is a legitimate purpose, and if the russian side transports military equipment of civilians, it is completely the responsibility of the russian side. ukraine has already called for an international investigation into this case, how can this be done on the territory of russia? first of all, the ukrainian side has already started criminal proceedings under 438, i.e. for violation of the laws of the customs of war, and the violation of the geneva convention clinic itself, i.e. she has already started an investigation, because as i understand it, she started this in connection with the fact that the media is talking a lot about the fact that our citizens were in litoki, so they should have started this investigation, and secondly, this

investigations can also be opened by an international criminal court, which i understand... what did the president mean when he said that the international community should pay attention to these events and start an international investigation, there is a last resort that can be to go, but i think it is very difficult to create between, an interstate investigative group, but it is impossible, because we are at war with russia, so it will be a complicated story. the fact that ukraine has opened criminal proceedings on violations of the customs of war, does this mean that the country actually admits that there were ukrainian prisoners of war? a very interesting question, i think not, because the criminal procedural legislation of ukraine is such that it can open proceedings in any case, if there is a suspicion that there is an element of a crime, and therefore

, for the time being, talk about , that the actions of these and other persons constitute a crime. impossible, it is necessary to investigate this proceeding. if we compare this case with the downing of the m-17 with olenivka, what lessons can be learned from those tragedies in order to better achieve justice in this case? i wouldn't compare this case, because the mh-17 is a civilian plane, and the il-76 is a military plane, so the difference here is that, ah, the il-76 is legitimate or or if it is correct to say a legitimate target and the military had the right to open fire on this plane. what do you expect from the meeting? the un security council, which was convened by russia on this issue? well, to be honest, i don't particularly expect anything like that, because these were the previous meetings, there

was nothing so surprising, except, to be honest, some emotional... er, thoughts of the russian side, but it would be interesting to see to listen to the arguments , whether our citizens were there or not, this is the most important thing, what is changing at the moment is especially interesting, this week the american academy of motion picture arts and sciences announced the nominees... for this year's academy award, among the contenders the award in the category of the best documentary film is also the tape of the ukrainian documentarian, winner of the pulitzer prize, mstislav chernov. the film 20 days in mariupol tells about the russian siege of the city in early 2022. the tape was created in cooperation with the associated press and frontline.

in an interview with kateryna lisunova, mstislav chernov told what this nomination means to him , and he said that for him this but give at least some meaning to this horror, my brain will desperately want to forget all this, but the camera will not . what was the first reaction when you found out that your film, your documentary

was nominated, the first reaction was, it scared me a little, because it means that there is so much work ahead, it means that we have even more responsibility than it was, this is a responsibility to the people, to the residents of... mariupol, to continue telling their story, to continue, and to tell the world about what happened to mariupol, about what russia did to mariupol, but it is also a responsibility for to represent ukrainian cinema on, on oscars, it's, it's a unique opportunity, but it's also a responsibility. that's why it's scary, there's a lot of work ahead, and, but everything will be fine, yes, we're ready, you're the first

ukrainian author nominated for an oscar, what does this mean for you individually, from your point of view, how to be the first passer in this matter, and what is means for ukraine? i have not yet understood what this means for me, i know... that this is a responsibility, i know that a lot of work needs to be done so that later we can say that we did everything possible, both for the people of mariupol and for the ukrainian cinema, before which we also have an obligation to represent him on the international arena, and this is also an obligation to the country to do everything possible so that we are not forgotten. because of course the world goes about its business, of course many tragedies happen around, and it is absolutely logical that some countries

forget about ukraine, about what is happening, and the fact that a ukrainian film is now talking about a ukrainian film, that the fact that the ukrainian film was nominated for an oscar adds weight and adds attention to the history that we we tell, to, to, to, to, to, to, news from ukraine, and , to, to, to ukrainian stories. there will be four more documentaries competing with your film , what do you know about them, what do you think about the opponents, so to speak? i don't want to call them opponents because that's all, they're all talented. filmmakers, these are all important films, they cover different events, they cover different sides of such a different

world now, and it's just an honor for me to be among them, among such talented and deep directors, why do you think 20 days in mariupol? should win an oscar, i won't say that it should, but i will say that we, i will say that we hope to win an oscar, of course, because mariupol is not a story about what has passed and ended, mariupol is a story about now, about , what's happening with ukraine now, they bombed, there's a surgical corps, that's over there, and you're naked, right? mariupol became not just a city that

was destroyed by russia, mariupol became a symbol of all ukrainian cities, avdiyivka, bakhmut, soledar, bugledar, but marinka, of all cities that were destroyed, destroyed by the russians bombs and he carries this message in himself , and even more, he has become a universal symbol of loss and pain that the civilian population goes through when a neighbor attacks their country, their country and kills people, what would you like to say? to the people of mariupol, who are now, at least, under occupation, or those who were able to leave and have already seen your film. i want to tell the people of mariupol that their history is theirs.

will never be forgotten, i want to tell them that mariupol will never be just a word for the world, and mariupol will remain forever a symbol, a symbol of pain, but also a symbol of the struggle of ukrainians and mariupol residents for survival and for their country, and this is already a huge achievement, and this is already... all that i could wish for as a director is now a nomination, at least your film for an oscar has become a symbol of hope for the people of mariupol, who are under occupation in particular, i hope that this is it, that 20 days of mariupol and the nomination will become hope, because when, when the people of mariupol watch this film, they see in it not

only pain, they... there is hope in it, and i am it saw in the eyes of the international audience, hope and surprise at how we, as a country, as mariupol residents, as a society, were always together and supported each other, that hope, it, it lies precisely in... in unity, and this unity, it, it, it is in the film, it can be seen and felt, and that is why this film carries hope. i don't want me to die.

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