of the 32 nato countries spend two and more percent of their gdp on their defense budgets, a commitment that nato countries made in 2006. however, do members of congress believe that allies are fulfilling their obligations to support collective security properly, and how do american lawmakers feel about the prospect of ukraine joining nato. our congress correspondent kateryna lisunova spoke with them about this. she is now. in connection with the capitulist hill. congratulations katya. congratulations natalya. katya, military aid ukraine's defense against russian invasion will be one of the main issues on the agenda of the summit. you managed to communicate with legislators, representatives of both parties. what do congressmen expect from the nato summit in the context of ukraine and do they want to see ukraine as a nato ally? whether they like it or not, both democrats and republicans agree that ukraine's potential membership. nato will be

an important topic of discussion at this summit in washington. at the same time, legislators do not predict ukraine's quick accession to the alliance and cite several reasons for this: firstly, the need to implement reforms, the need to fight corruption and the very fact that ukraine is currently at war. i suggest you listen to what the legislators actually told me. russia should not dictate whether finland, ukraine or anyone else can join or leave nato. of course they will try, but i don't think we should allow it. so, will ukraine submit an application for accession, or will it be accepted? i think it's a matter of time. i hope we are we will hear relevant conversations so that the ukrainian people and leadership understand what it means to be part of the alliance and what obligations it imposes. what we cannot allow is a country that is not capable of self-defense. one of the main requirements of nato membership is the ability to self-defense, and this will already guarantee help from partners. and obviously, since

ukraine is at war, now may not be the best time for them to enter. i think it will be a productive summit, you will see the unchanging unity and support of ukraine at the conference here in washington, it will also give hope for a future, perhaps even a distant future, in which the country will be an active partner and join in all that nato is. katya, considering. global challenges in the world, what do legislators generally expect from the nato summit in washington? as is often the case in congress, expectations are divided along party lines, with republicans insisting that one of the main topics should be calling on nato member states to live up to all the obligations they are expected to fulfill, especially after signed their membership in nato. in particular, this applies to contributions, so that all nato member states make contributions in the amount of 2% of gdp, which not all states do now. at the same time , the democrats overthrew... that the main theme

of this summit in general should be the unification of democratic countries against the fight against aggressive autocracies and dictatorships, and in this context, an important issue for the democrats is the unification of states in order to strengthen ukraine's resistance against russian aggression federation. i suggest listening in more detail in their comments. first of all, we we have to focus on the fact that every nato member country has to reach the 2% mark that... annual contributions, which is not there yet, and until that happens, it will be a top priority for us, to step up to make sure that the countries nato fulfills its obligations, and let's remember, nato is a military alliance that has existed for 75 years, it has a core mission, and we must protect that core mission before we start talking about new countries joining. the nato summit will be a really important moment to continue building the coalition democracy who fight against putin and

authoritarian dictatorships. i continue to insist on this. i am optimistic that the forces of democracy will prevail. katya, last week there was a congressional hearing discussing funding for the state department in the european region. i know lawmakers have also asked about the biden administration's expectations for the nato summit. what did they hear from the speakers? in general, it has passed. last week, there were many hearings at which the question of the nato summit was raised, in particular, when it is was about international relations, and as you rightly noted at the beginning of this inclusion, speaking during a congressional hearing in the house committee on international relations, one of the speakers is james o'brien, assistant secretary of state for european and eurasian affairs, commenting that, that, what exactly does the biden administration expect from this nato summit and what progress has actually been achieved in recent years, he noted that... now 23 countries out of 32

nato countries meet all the obligations they have to fulfill as nato members, in particular with regard to contributions to the alliance, and so does he. noted that, on the contrary, just two years ago, this number of countries that meet all the requirements was only nine countries, and over the past two years, it has increased to 23, and now nato continues to work to ensure that all countries met their obligations, in particular, with regard to contributions in the amount of 2% of gdp, but in general, the representative of the state department emphasized that european states and nato countries increased its contributions to the alliance to more than... 17%, which is also progress that has taken place over the past two years, in fact, of russian aggression in ukraine, in the past two years, in fact, of russian aggression in ukraine. also, the representative of the state department noted that in addition to the need to increase contributions and increase all obligations of states,

countries, nato members, nato's readiness to face all threats will also be discussed, and he said that the situation in this regard has also improved and that now there is no question. .. the plan of how to protect and defend countries nato, and how to implement the already ready plan, we suggest listening to his comment right now. nato is now stronger than ever. over the past two years, european countries have increased defense spending by more than 18%. currently, 23 countries fulfill their obligations to nato regarding financial contributions. when the biden administration first came to ... only nine countries were meeting these obligations. as for the nato summit, i think the main conclusion will be that the alliance is stronger and better prepared for the future than ever. we are not alone increased spending, but we will also announce that

all of our regional defense plans are now in the readiness stage. it means we spend money wisely to protect our people. i think it's... the best answer to those who say the only way forward is isolationism or making deals with dictators. we can stand up for ourselves. thank you katya for your work. our congress correspondent kateryna lisunova was in direct contact with us. we talked about the expectations of lawmakers from the nato summit in washington and ukrainian prospects in the alliance. the international monetary fund estimated the losses of the ukrainian energy industry due to russian shelling at 56.5 billion dollars, this is stated in the organization's report published at the end of june, the us agency for international development is helping to rebuild the destroyed energy generation, about how ukraine is preparing for

another hard winter, voice of america correspondent rafael sahakyan spoke with the representative of the agency. in recent ukrainian. at the peace summit in switzerland it was announced that the usa and the state department will allocate more than 1.5 billion dollars to support ukraine. how will this funding be distributed and what tools will be provided on the ground, including for the ukrainian energy sector? given that russia continues its attacks on infrastructure. a significant part of the funding is aimed at additional humanitarian aid to ukraine, but the greater part - 800 million is allocated to support the energy sector of ukraine. usa focuses on the procurement of critical equipment such as auto transformers, providing repairs of the existing power equipment, in particular in the thermal power plant, which was damaged. we also provide a full range of support

to ukraine's heating and electricity sector, and so this assistance is confirmation that thanks to the more than $1.5 billion that the us government has allocated to support ukraine's energy...sector, we have made it a priority to restore generating capacity despite russia's destruction. current measures, how they can help ukraine rebuild its war-damaged energy infrastructure, as well as protect it from future russian attacks, because people in ukraine spend many hours without electricity almost every week. we determine the priorities of our assistance in coordination with the government of ukraine, so we receive very clearly. from them data about their requirements and needs. so, firstly, it's repairing the equipment, buying additional equipment, and in the end, you're absolutely right. the us government and usaid are helping ukraine protect key energy facilities. therefore , we provide the so-called passive protection

of energy equipment. we aim to strengthen facilities that have key elements infrastructures that help ukraine. obviously, there is a huge component that usaid is responsible for, which is active defense. the ministry of defense provides more air defense equipment for ukraine. you've obviously seen us working with our partners and allies on this. government of romania. just announced readiness to provide ukraine with additional key patriot assets. so with active defense, and with the passive defense that we conduct, we have to find a way to give ukraine the tools not only to repair the existing energy equipment and replacement of equipment with new acquisitions, but also to protect the energy assets it has. it's going to be a difficult winter and it's going to be difficult to replace the lost power generation, so we're looking at all areas and all the possibilities in ... including working with the private sector to try to create the fastest possible ways to replace some of those

lost resources. speaking of winter, even though it's still summer, with putin, as administrator samantha powerer said, turning winter into a weapon, what steps is usaid planning ahead to help ukrainians during potentially another winter of war, and what is needed both in the short term and in the with winter approaching, the most important thing now is to ensure the availability of light and support the economy, and, of course, to give ukrainians confidence that ukraine is a state, in which they must remain and which they must support. we have seen the incredible resilience of the ukrainian people, and our work in the usa is to try, firstly, to increase the entry into the budget as the war drags on, so we are focused on things like

agriculture, the energy sector, and supporting various infrastructure improvements that will support the ukrainian economy by generating revenue. direct budget support will be really critical. since the outbreak of full-scale war with russia, usaid has invested in ukrainian farmers and agricultural businesses facing a variety of challenges. because of the war, one of them was and remains the blockade of the black sea by russia, which refused the grain agreement. how do you rate the current one? the situation? ukraine now exports more agricultural products than before the war. she does this through her own ingenuity, through her own heroism, by creating virtually her own safety net. russian black sea fleet, but this is also partly the result of international support for the agricultural sector. we

at usa are very proud to have created the agriculture sustainability initiative announced by administrator samantha paul in the summer of 2022. at first she predicted $100 million to support ukraine's agriculture, the purchase of resources such as seeds and fertilizers to support temporary storage and maintenance. infrastructure, it also provided support for crediting and financing of ukrainian farmers. the budget of the initiative increased to a quarter of a billion dollars of investment by the us government through the usa to support the agricultural sector of ukraine. we have set a goal of raising more than a quarter of a billion dollars in external support through donors and partners such as the world bank and private sector. and we see that such companies as. regarding support to ukraine that

goes through the us, do you get any regular feedback from ukrainian partners, as many republican lawmakers have expressed concern that there is insufficient reporting of money or other support sent to ukraine. yes, obviously in... we have a huge aid package, particularly for direct budget support and a huge level of expectation to ensure that taxpayers' money is used properly, and we we are in constant contact with the ukrainian government. in addition, we have established highly structured and multi-layered accountability measures to enable ukrainian oversight of aid, as well as third-party monitoring. there are dozens of team members in ukraine, on the ground in... the usa, working on reporting on every element of the assistance we provide.

we have a structured team of people who also oversee our assistance. we have spot checks that we do on site. we work with a world bank that distributes this assistance according to its own standards of accountability. fortunately, and again, i think it's thanks to the ukrainian leadership and the awareness that they are responsible, and the scandal can undermine trust. we have seen no signs of abuse of us funding. as a result of russian aggression, ukraine lost more than 9 gvw of capacity. during peak hours the country. purchases electricity from abroad. in order to stabilize the energy system, oblenergo develops outage schedules every day. municipalities are taking steps to achieve energy self-sufficiency. kamianets podilsky, in the khmelnytsky region, critical infrastructure facilities live with the help of cogeneration plants. how the us agency for international development

helped the city become energy independent in the article by tetyana kukurika and serhiy repchenskyi. the real problem for the kindergarten was the hot water supply in the warm period, centralized hot water was not provided, so each educational institution was looking for an alternative. we had hot water, but it was with a full-scale invasion and at the same time, that blackouts and power outages began, we installed additional boilers in institutions. well , today... this issue has become very expensive, so come on, today hot water is supplied to all educational institutions centrally, this allows significant savings, because the service is four times cheaper than if each kindergarten heated water independently. this was possible thanks to the united states agency for international development. today we have a very cool energy independence project implemented because we understand that

and the situation that exists today in the country, when our people from kamian and ukrainians. sitting for several hours without electricity, this was a real challenge for us, and it will certainly give an opportunity to improve the situation in our community. the city utility received four cogeneration units from the united states agency for international development. the equipment works on the basis of gas piston engines. gas piston units are primarily internal combustion engines. i can say that due to the quality of the equipment. we were able to go out on in a very short time to the maximum load that allows you to get these installations. the total capacity of each installation is 1 megawatt of electric power and 1 megawatt of thermal power, which is enough to power social and critical infrastructure facilities, supply hot water and heat to

every home. help from the american people, says the mayor, is very important, after all. the city itself would not be able to purchase such equipment. taking into account the cost of such four foundations, which is more than 4 million euros, of course, the kamenia city budget would did not pull such a load. thanks to the united states agency for international development, a city of 100,000 people became energy independent. the implementation of this project allows us to significantly save money from the city budget, and this amount is about 30 million hryvnias every year, because we will supply this electricity... for street lighting of our streets, we plan to supply this electricity to critical infrastructure facilities and warm, we also plan to serve in our social institutions. at the beginning of june, the city put into operation two installations, two more will be operational closer to the beginning of autumn, so in the conditions of russian shelling and possible

blackouts, the city plans to hibernate. now this is the biggest project that has been implemented in our community in the last few years. tetiana kukurika, serhiy repchynskyi, for the voice of america, from kamianets podilskyi in khmelnytskyi region. two years ago, the us supreme court overturned its own 1973 decision, which then legalized abortion at the constitutional level throughout the united states. the court passed the decision to allow whether or not to have abortions is up to individual state governments. this year, the issue of abortion in the usa is expected to be one of the main topics of the election campaign. details in the plot: karolin presutii and iryna shynkarenko. on june 24, 2022 , the us supreme court overturned a decision that recognized the constitutional right to abortion and left the issue to the discretion of individual states. since then, 21 states have passed their own laws restricting abortion. voters even within the same party differ in their opinions. for example,

at a rally in support of trump. i am a fan life, but i think that people ... should have the right whether they want it early, and whether it's safe and with exceptions for the health of the child or the mother, but that's up to the states. in the congressional elections two years ago, this supreme court decision mobilized voters for whom the issue of abortion was the most important factor. a recent gallup survey showed that this year this topic also mobilizes such voters. we are now seeing a record high. 32% of voters said they would only vote for a candidate who would be divided. their views on it question, but if among supporters and independent voters this figure has hardly changed and remains at the level of 22%, then among democrats this share has risen significantly. one of... those voters is jayden donofrio. we see that pro-choice, as well as the legalization of recreational marijuana, is critical to the beliefs of young

voters, it's the most important thing for them, especially the issue of choice. in may, the state of florida, where donofrio lives, passed one of the most restrictive laws outlawing abortion after six weeks pregnancy president joe biden called the current set of laws a mess. it doesn't matter where. in america you live, it's not about states' rights, it's about women's rights, the person most responsible for taking away that freedom in america is donald trump. president biden has his own difficult views on abortion related to his catholic faith. on june 14, he met the pope in the vatican. the catholic church considers abortion immoral, but catholics are divided on the issue. in my opinion, abortion is now where everyone wanted it to be legal point of view. president donald trump takes credit for the supreme court overturning the federal legalization of abortion . we have to follow our hearts on this issue but

remember you also have to win the election to restore our culture and essentially save our country which is now unfortunately a nation in decline. a gallup expert says it will be interesting to see whether the supreme court's decision will affect people's choices in november, or just motivate more people to go to the polls. election. iryna shenkarenko, karolin prasutni voice of america. with that, we will say goodbye, you watched the program of the ukrainian voice of america service. time, also join our daily briefings from monday to friday at 18:00 kyiv time. i'm natalya leonova, all is well. there are discounts that represent the only discounts on fcalor

10% in the pharmacies of travelers and savings. there are discounts that represent the only discounts on mikrolax 20% in pharmacies of the travelers and savings. if you suffer from heartburn, i recommend izoto. izoto interacts with the acid in the stomach, which leads to a decrease symptoms of pachia. your water, if... there are discounts , they represent the only discounts on exoderyl 15% in pharmacies plantain for you and savings exclusively on the air of our channel, greetings friends, on the air politclub on the espresso tv channel, the most relevant topics of the week: the war against russia against ukraine, the war on near east crisis on the border between ukraine and poland. topics that resonate in our society. drone attack on kyiv and other cities

of ukraine, drone attacks on moscow and other russian cities. analysis of changing processes the country and each of us. the country should get the right to start negotiations on joining the eu. vitaly portnikov and guests of the project: we are bored because there is nothing to fight about. let's invent help to understand the present and predict the future. for the world, a second trump presidency will be terrifying. a project for those who care and think. political club. every sunday at 20:10 at espresso. see this week in the judicial review program. extra-procedural actions and smearing of drunk drivers. why vrps fired judge galyonkin. apply to mr. golyonkin's sanction in the form of the resignation of the position, and how judge bonchev failed the qualification assessment, and all the measures that i took were legal, they were

carried out. on thursday, july 4, at 5:45 p.m., watch the judicial control program with tatyana shustrova on the espresso tv channel. verdict with serhii rudenko. from now on, in the new two-hour format, even more analytics, even more important topics, even more. top guests , foreign experts, inclusion from abroad, about ukraine, the world, the front, society, and also feedback, you can express your opinion on the evil of the day with the help of a telephone survey, turn on and turn on, verdict with serhii rudenko, from tuesday to friday from 20 to 22. as part of the verda program. i will be with you for the next hour, but we will not collect now, i just want to thank you, we were able to collect almost 622, i hope that by tomorrow we

will close this collection with your direct help and well , you can just look for it on the espresso website on youtube, rewind and look a bit, where there is a link to the bank and zadonati and we will talk for the next hour with several guests on various topics, but now i will invite oleksandr hlushchenko, an expert in digital technologies, to the conversation, this will be a very important conversation, mr. oleksandr, i congratulate you, i congratulate you, good evening, good evening, why did i decide to talk about this topic... and my colleagues invited you to a conversation, and the verkhovna rada of ukraine invited the minister of digital transformation to a conversation, and in order to talk about a possible data leak from the diya application, or a possible hack, committed there by a certain person from the russian federation, from the country of the aggressor. so far, it seems that

this meeting in the verkhovna rada has not taken place. let's face it, if the verkhovna rada, a specialized committee, the relevant committee of the verkhovna rada of ukraine, which is responsible for these digital technologies, security, and so on, invites a member of the government to a conversation, there are obviously reasons to talk about it and it is possible to talk in closed mode. your opinion on this matter, are there grounds, let's start this way, are there grounds even at the level of the verkhovna rada, at the level of the government talk about a possible data leak or hacking of the application? let's start from the very beginning, that there is a precedent from the american themis, and the american themis just gave the impetus for this conversation, we do not know what they will talk about, but there is a fact that the russian federation, i would like to say in another way, but let there be

a russian federation. has been waging cyber war against ukraine since 2014, attacks on ukrainian infrastructure began in 2014, the so-called cyber-berkut group carried out attacks, some of them were even successful, and starting since 2022, these attacks have become regular, daily, some of them were massive, some of them... were successful, russian hackers in uniform have been fighting against ukraine on the cyber front for the past 10 years, and the conversation should start with the fact that how ready is ukraine to these challenges, to what extent ukraine defends itself, and if a cyber incident occurs, do we have an

action plan in order to... protect our data and create conditions under which russian hackers are on the prowl, and it is the intelligence hackers, the fsb, who are fighting against ukraine uh, and all their actions, uh, no will end in success, well, here i am again , here is the latest news about the alleged data leak, the deputy suggested, this is about deputy volodymyr. suggested minister fedorov to come and talk and here you know what is important to understand, because action is the data of millions of people, my data, i think, your data, there are such characters by the way, i know for sure that there are those who have not downloaded the action application , did not register there, i don’t know, maybe they, like stephen king, don’t have a mobile phone, they somehow live outside the world, well, different people, there are

people who are sitting in bunkers, well... they are actually there in certain countries and believe that there will be an invasion of aliens, there are different people, again, but millions of people, ukrainians , have their data in action, plus there are data of military personnel, what is most important, the officers, the rank and file, and this, and this is the problem, here is the question, the question of security in the future, i do not know how this story ends, we may come back to it again, about reports, about conversations, whether there really was such a did it rain or not? but we need the prospect of protection ourselves to develop some new protection systems, to constantly update them, and how to act, or to involve our partners, i'm sorry for just a little long question, but i want to remind you that when there was a hack, remember the mobile network, it was about then, in my opinion about kyivstar or december 23, and then specialists from foreign companies very actively joined in, who very quickly...