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your purpose, and the way you give back. life well planned. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. announcer: and now, "bbc news" ♪ lewis: hello. ♪ i'm lewis vaughan jones. you are watching "the context" on bbc news. >> tomorrow and the next day is about standing together with our allies and discussing practically how we provide support r ukraine. >> ukraine's success as an independent, successful country, is the best possible response to the aggression that continues to be committed by putin.

>> the big nato summit and he wants to focus on that and show that he can be the world leader that he says he is. but of course he is going to be scrutinized in a way he has probably never been scrutinized before. lewis: hello. welcome to the program. straightaway want to bring you live pictures because a big rocket has taken off in the last few seconds all stop we have been keeping an eye on this because this is a significant moment for european space agency. let's take a listen in. >> and his blazing a trail across the equatorial skies. the operations manager is telling us that everything is going according to plan. >> oh, my god.

>> it is quite a sight. >> oh, my gosh. this is happening. >> it's the most incredible feeling. we are on the edge of tears in the commentary box because this is a big day in a big moment. >> actually, the buildings are rumbling around us now. and these are live images from the cameras on board. >> we are looking down. one of the two boosters. we can see the flames coming out of that booster -- boosters are doing the work. telling us that everything is going according to plan, everything is nominal. >> we might even be -- >> we have clear skies tonight,

this afternoon. we had rain all day, but the clouds parted. the two dots there, the boosters. >> we have booster separation. so, wow, that is the first clapping we see. >> and our cameras on board -- >> pictures are coming in with a 20-seconds delay, which is why we have them now. look at this. >> wow. amazing, amazing. these boosters have transported us 60 kilometers high. >> and we can see -- telling us that the trajectory is normal, everything going according to plan. that is the engine on the main stage you can see.

we have a camera inside. >> this was a camera inside. we are able to see when the lower stage separates. the boosters have burned almost 300 tons of fuel in two minutes. everything nominal. the operations manager says. >> yes, and we are getting close to the next thing, the jettisoning of the nosecone of the launch vicle, which is where the passengers are sitting. you can even see -- that is amazing. we had a confirmation there that it has been jettisoned. >> yes, protecting our spacecraft, it withstands all the pressure and heat. once we start out the nose out of the atmosphere, we didn't need her anymore, and has been

jettisoned. >> so what we are looking at is the main stage -- lewis: so that is a way to start a program, isn't it, a live rocket launch has become on the air. ariane 6 making its inaugural flight from french guiana. a demonstration mission, effectively. going to put a group of satellites in orbit. the reason this is significant is it will give european governments and companies access to space independently from the rest of the world, so a crucial moment for everyone working on that. and so far it looks so good. we will continue checking in with the progress of that rocket after its successful launch there as the program goes on. we will let you know what happens. now let's start the show with our main story. we are going to head to

washington. leaders from around the will are arriving for the nato summit there. u.s. president joe biden is due to speak. it is a big test for him this week. we will have much more on that in a moment. let's stick with the nato for the moment, because the security organization is marking 75 years. this week focused on showing they are still as united as in the past. the focus will be ukraine and combating russian aggression there. there will be new measures, some already announced. we will come to those as well. earlier, u.s. secretary of state antony blinken met with the ukrainian foreign minister. this is the meeting. as you can see, ukraine once more air defenses andecurity guarantees f. questions at the security council over yesterday's strike on ukraine including a children's hospital in kyiv. 38 people died and 190 injured

across the country. moscow has denied targeting civilian sites. kyiv is also seeking that nato membership. there appears no movement on that right now. but a new series of measures for ukraine has been announced. here is the white house national security advisor. >> in the coming days, nato will also announce robust new measures of support, including a new nato military command in germany led by a three-star general that will launch training,k equipping, and forced development program for ukrainian troops, applied from all allies to collectively provide ukraine with at least 40 billion euros worth of security assistance this next year, and a new nato senior representative in kyiv appointed by secretary-general stoltenberg, who you will hear from in a moment, who will deepen ukraine's institutional relationship with the alliance and serve as the focal point for nato's engagement with ukrainian

officials. lewis: 75 years of nato. it's a name, an organization we talk about an awful lot. but what is nato? >> the world's attention centers on washington as representatives of 12 nations in western europe and north america symbol for the signing of the north atlantic treaty. lewis: full title, nato, officially establish in 1949. it provides military assistance to all nato members. not long after there was the korean war. although nato didn't officially take part, several members did, and the war helped to strengthen coordination, effectively making it a military alliance. >> within hours of the government's announcement, people started turning up at checkpoint charlie, the best-known crossing point in the west. lewis: proponents of nato said it helped to keep the peace throughout the cold war. tensions seemed to ease when the

berlin wall and the soviet union itself collapsed. but the russian invasion of ukraine and expansion of nato with new member states including previously neutral finland and sweden seem to show the organization still has a role to play in world affairs and a crucial role at that. let's cross to washington. our correspondent is there. tell us where you are, first of all, and what is going to happen. >> lewis, i'm at the mellon auditorium in washington, d.c. we are a few blocks away from the white house. world leaders will be arriving to this auditorium in this hour and then in the coming hours we are expecting the arrival of u.s. president joe biden for that high-stakes address in washington, where the eyes of the world will be on him, particularly at a time where we have had rather awkward with screen, it is fair -- awkward

split screen, it's fair to say, of congressional democrats on capitol hill meeting behind closed doors to discuss the future of joe biden's candidacy in the race for the white house, and then this nato summit going on here today. the focus very much will be ukraine shoring up support. president zelenskyy arrived in the u.s. capitol with a painful reminder of why that air defense is necessary off the back of the devastating strike on a children's hospital in kyiv . continued calls for air defense, and that also we will be waiting to hear more about ukraine's path membership. you may recall that back in the summit there was discontent that there wasn't in that invitation automatically offered, so we are expecting to hear more about a bridge to membership. and then there will be conversations behind closed doors about political shifts -- for example, in europe, what does it mean if we see the far-right gaining there with parties that don't necessarily support further aided to ukraine?

and then the backdrop to this, the u.s. election, the possibility of president trump once again, somebody who hasn't spoken glowingly about nato in past and has even said that the countries that don't meet the defense spending threshold of some 2% of gdp, pressure could essentially do what it liked -- russia could essentially do what it liked to those countries f lenny of questions about that as well. tonight the eyes of the world on the set u -- on this auditorium and then the solar press conference on thursday to see how president biden performs at a summit which could, it's fair to say, be make or break for him. lewis: helena, fascinating. thank you so much for that. busy few days ahead in washington. we will dig into what it actually means. we speak to a former u.s. ambassador to nato. thank you for coming on the program. >> it's a pleasure, thank you. lewis: before we get into too much detail, can i get your top

headline thoughts about this 75th-anniversary moment and what it means in relation to ukraine? >> three things. first, nato is unified when it comes to protecting itself, its own members. two, nato has no strategy for winning in ukraine, and it is not going to happen at this summit, either, but we urgently need one. three, there are massive questions about the future of u.s. leadership in a nato because of president biden's performance at the recent presidential debate and whether he can continue as the leader of the alliance for the remainder of his term and whether he will run for reelection, be replaced by the democratic party, and if he does not win reelection or another democrat does not, that we face donald trump, and what will that mean for nato and ukraine? a lot of questions on people's minds now. lewis: let's pick up on that last thought briefly. what are your assumptions if donald trump does win? what would that mean for nato?

kurt: i think we have to not make assumptions. he has said many things. he said the war wouldn't have happened if he was president. he was the first president to provide lethal arms to ukraine by providing javelin missiles in 2017.; he has also said that nato allies need to spend more and that he will not defend countries if they didn't do their share. we really can't predict exactly how he is going to behave as president. what i think european allies need to do, not make any assumptions, do their own homework so that they are prepared for the situations that exist in the world as they are. defensepending, defense industrial production, building european security structures. and then be proactive. don't wait to see what trump might do and complain. be proactive. that is the only way to handle this. lewis: le let's focus on ukraine for a moment. want to get your thoughts on the

gap, if any, between what ukraine and volodymyr zelenskyy are asking for and what nato is able to deliver. kurt: this is a fundamental queson. ukraine is defending the frontiers of freedom in your appeared vladimir putin -- frontiers of freedom in europe. vladimir putin is time to eliminate a whole nation. it is a genocidal war. he is trying to change borders by force. if he succeeds in ukraine, he has designs on other countries as well. ukraine is holding that line for europe and the united states for nato. they expected to get support a they expected to be invited to join the alliance so that we share the burden of protecting ourselves. nato is not looking at it that way today. nato is saying we will help ukraine, we will give you some things, we will provide a lot of support, but we are not going to bring you into nato and we are not going to commit to everything we can do. we still see restrictions on the types of aid provided to ukraine

and on the use of aid to ukraine. even after this horrific attack on the children's hospital in kyiv by russian rockets, we are still telling ukraine don't fire back with long-range missiles into russia. it is really remarkable, the difference in perspective between what ukraine is doing and how it is seen by many in the west. lewis: and how frustrated are you by that? kurt: very much so. i look at this is the opportunity to avoid the kind of calamity that befell the world in 1939 to 1945. weidn't stop hiller when he went into austria, when he went into the sudetenland, when he took all of czechoslovakia, and it kept turning into a bigger and bigger war. we are facing the same thing again. we have an opportunity to end this war through ukrainian victory, defeat of russian forces in ukraine. but if we fail to do that and russia eliminates ukraine, it

will move on and we will be facing yet again a wider war in europe. lewis: kurt volker, thank you so much for coming on the program as always. kurt: my pleasure, thank you. lewis: let's speak to the german marshall fund regional director. thank you for coming on the program. >> great to be with you. lewis: i will ask a similar headline, if you like. what are your top thoughts as this summit gets underway? >> well, it's fun to connect with you and speak right after ambassador volker. kurt is a friend, and we share a lot of useful i'm joining you from washington, but i come from warsaw. the war there is much, much closer. it is also the human dimension. one of the absolutely key aspects that this summit will have to nail is very concrete military aid when it comes to air missile defense for ukraine

and providing it. the alliance cannot just celebrate, which is overall at this summit, 75 years of the alliance, but for the alliance to reach 80, 85, hopefully 150 years, we will have to deal with the current problem, which is russia and its super aggressive behavior not only in ukraine, but there is a number of attacks already under the threshold of so-called article five, under the threshold of war, throughout alliance already in the baltic states, but also further to the west in europe. and alliance will have to address that. so ukraine, addressing attacks on the alliance already, and third, as kurt pointed out, if we do not stop putin in ukraine,

we'll have putin's angry army on our shores and on our borders. what the alliance has to do is clearly show forces that they will be able to defend the eastern flank of the alliance. lewis: and you mentioned poland, and while i've got you, i want to ask you about the role there. we've seen that security agreement in warsaw signed between ukraine and poland. is this a sense, a sign of a growing importance strategically of the role of poland? michal: poland is an absolutely key country for the defense of the eastern flank of the alliance itself. we are wking very closely with ukraine. that is why you saw president zelenskyy stopping in warsaw on the way to washington, because poland has been one of the countries that provided the most military aid, we are also hosting millions of ukrainian

refugees. and that is building up the strength of the eastern flank that is facing russia most directly. as you know also, i'm sure, poland is a 4% of our gdp on defense, actually more than the united states. that is because polish politicians but also the society understands that if we don't spend on security now, we'll have to spend much more on security in the future. lewis: thank you very much for coming on the program. thank you. michal: thank you very much. lewis: around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news.

lewis: this is bbc news. we've been talking about that big nato summit kicking off in washington, and this means it is a huge test for u.s. president joe biden. he will be very closely watched, his performance on the world

stage, after a frankly disastrous few weeks for his campaign, constant questions about his health and ability surround him, growing calls within his own party for him to step aside. the president insists he is not going nowhere. at a press briefing a little earlier when we came on air, white house press secretary was asked if the president feels he has been beaten back by the effort to force him to resign. this is her response. >> look, you know, you heard of the president yesterday when he called into "morning joe," did about 18 minutes of q&a yesterday morning. he spoke very i think forcefully, passionately about where he stands, about how he sees things moving forward. and we also have said many times we respect, we respect members of congress, we respect their view. but i also want to say there is also a long list of

congressional members who have been very clear in support of this president. lewis: so that is just in the last half-hour or so. we will have plenty more on president biden in the next hour with our panel. let's check on what has been happening with his opponent, trump. he has returned to the campaign trail after a subdued week in media for him. he is going to be at a campaign rally at his golf club in miami in the coming hrs. big question around donald trump right now is who will be his vp, his vice president. deadline seems to be approaching. trump has previously said he would make a choice by the republican national convention. that is next week. let's take a look at potential frontrunners. florida senator marco rubio, ohio senator j.d. vance, north dakota governor doug burgum all still in the mix. joining me from washington, a former campaign: your cap --

campaign communications director for donald trump great to see you, thanks for coming on the program. >> thanks for having me, great. lewis: run us through your thoughts on the vp pick. >> listen, i think from everything i've heard from the people i talked to in the feeling that president trump is going to most likely pick j.d. vance, the u.s. senator from ohio. my understanding is his appeal to the young people is going to play a significant role. he is 39 years old, you will be the second youngest vp in american history. that in itself is a step in the direction of including the youth vote from which has been drifting away from the democratic party. j.d., the senator hits a good message. he comes from basically poor, working class roots and he worked his way up. he is a veteran. he carried suburban districts in ohio, which at one point was considered a swing state. from a plus to the campaign, j.d. seems to hit several key

landmarks president trump needs, and more importantly, he articulate the message almost as good as president trump, just not as good as the president. lewis: interesting. are there any potential downsides going with him? bryan: you know, people are looking to president trump making some rt of historic signal to the african-american committee with u.s. senator tim scott. there was some excitement related to that, but it has since dwindled. there is probably excitement in the republican party having a woman as the vp nominee. to land here, a tilt of the had to the youth movement, young people who are most concerned and feel the most hopeless in his current society we live in, it's the right tone. but there were other opportunities that we had a chance to hit, and some people feel a little bit shortchanged -- will feel a little bit shortchanged. lewis: interesting. and just for the sake of completeness, give me some of

the other names potentially still in the right. bryan: you have u.s. senator marco rubio, who made a strong case. he has brought appeal to the establishment based, to the ceo's who like that stability marco brings. he would be the establishment touch. he has done a tremendous amount of joss during and connecting with the president the last two years that catapulted him to the top three. the other one is current governor of north dakota doug burgum, who being a businessman very much understands the president, they very much speak the same language, and they handle problems the same way. you have to remember president trump is a businessman, and the governor of north dakota burgum is also a businessman. they handle difficult problems much differently than politicians. they look for the hard tasks to do and look to solve the problems, whereas politicians run away from that. that is why you have seen a lot

of conversation that the governors has made a determinism out of inroads with trump and his inner circle, they basically speak the same language and analyze problems the same way. lewis: interesting. bryan, thank you so much for talking us through that. not long for us to find out. stay with us. back in a couple minutes. i am lewis vaughan jones. this is bbc news. announcer: funding f presentation of this program is provided by... financial services firm, raymond james. announcer: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. and by judy and peter blum kovler foundation, pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: "usa today" calls it, "arguably the best bargain in streaming." that's because the free pbs app lets you watch the best of pbs anytime, anywhere.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ announcer: funding for presentation of this program is provided by... woman: two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds, giving these former race dogs a real chance to win. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you,