this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories at the top of the hour as newsday continues straight after hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. what lessons have the russians learned from the progress — or lack of it — of their military offensive in ukraine? right now, russian forces are focused on the east of the country — the donbas. and what happens in the next few weeks will be critical for the future of ukraine, of russia and of european security.

my guest is the former russian oligarch turned arch putin foe mikhail khodorkovsky. if putin is cornered, how will he respond? mikhail khodorkovsky, welcome to hardtalk. speaks russian. western leaders say that vladimir putin invasion of ukraine must fail. do you think they understand what it will take to ensure that putin's war ends in defeat?

in a sense, this war is about will. it's about the will and determination of putin, about the will of the ukrainians, led by zelensky, and also about the will of the west to confront putin. whose will, right now, do you think is the strongest? do you know putin well? i'd be interested in your answer.

really? because there is a school of thought in the west that putin cannot afford a humiliation in ukraine. and if he is facing humiliation, he will use all of the weaponry at his disposal, including weapons of mass destruction — including, some believe, nuclear weapons. are you saying that fear is misplaced?

you visited washington, dcjust a few days ago. you spoke to us officials.

you've seen their latest assistance package for ukraine — $800 million of new weaponry, perhaps some heavier weaponry than we've seen before, but still nothing like the list that president zelensky wants of heavy artillery, fighterjets — all sorts of things which he is not getting. as you talk to the americans and to european leaders as well, do you believe that they will never provide this weaponry or perhaps they'll provide it but maybe, it will be too late? what is your message to them?

this isn'tjust about weapons, is it? it's also about the vast amounts of money that the west, particularly the europeans, send to russia every single day, every single week, every month of the year in terms of payments for oil and gas — hundreds of millions of dollars every single day. why hasn't that oil and gas revenue to russia been cut off?

but we are where we are. the german chancellor scholz says that if germany was to cut off the taps — the gas taps from russia tomorrow, hundreds of thousands of germans would be thrown out of work. do you really believe that is a politically viable option for a country like germany? let me stop you there. because you are the former boss of yukos energy. you were once arguably russia's richest energy oligarch. you know that sector better than anybody. if europe, in particular, stopped buying russian oil and gas, how quickly

would putin's war machine and the russian economy collapse? or at least no longer be able to function in the way it functions today? in the meantime, what we see as europe discusses oil and gas — but, frankly, does very little about it — what we see is some limited sanctions on the banking

sector, they've stopped importing coal — or at least they're promising to — and they've taken measures to freeze the huge reserves of russian money in overseas banks and they've targeted oligarchs. you speak to me as a former russian oligarch. do you think the seizing of yachts, the telling roman abramovich he can no longer own chelsea football club — do all of these big, headline measures, do they make any difference?

as you see the terrible

events unfold in ukraine and you reflect on more than two decades of putin in power, do you, in any sense, feel a sense of responsibility and deep regret that, going back to the late 1990s and early 2000s, you were one of the power brokers in russia that actually aided and supported putin in his bid to take power after yeltsin? without you, putin might have struggled. with you, he was a politicalforce. do you regret your association with him?

do you think he changed or did you get him wrong at the beginning? and you obviously paid a very heavy price, not least ten years in russian prison. and you today are a very passionate campaigner against putin and for what you call

an open russia, with an open russia foundation, with an anti—putin coalition of exiled politicians. you are doing everything you can to change russia from outside but would you accept that what we see today is the failure of your political campaign against putin?

i'm sure you are aware of the total information control that the kremlin operates. you're aware of the narrative that putin and his associates are giving to the russian people. that this is russia's defensive war, that nato is seeking to undermine russian security and that russia has a fundamental right to send its forces into a war which is safeguarding russian culture, russian history and russia's future. that seems to be a message that resonates with the people and that's why i'm wondering whether your message that this is putin's war, rather than a russian war, whether that is missing

a very important point.

but i want you to address a somewhat different point, which is simply this — the soviet empire collapsed 30 years ago. in countries like ukraine, they have begun to build a civil society, democratic institutions, the rule of law. it's very far from perfect, but the process has begun. why, three decades on, has that process not even really begun in russia and people like you have poured money into 0pen russia foundation and other civil society initiatives have failed. why?

do you feel ashamed of your own country today? because you live outside it, you live in a very different world and ijust wonder whether you really feel russian any more or whether you just feel shame about your country.

you said just a short time ago that you were absolutely sure, and i'm quoting you, "putin's regime is going to end very soon." why do you say that?

and then what, and then what? what are the alternatives for the russian people in terms of leadership? boris nemtsov, one of the leading opposition politicians, dead. alexey navalny, perhaps the biggest opposition figure today, locked up in a prison. people like you, garry kasparov, all exiled, no longer even in russia. what kind of leadership is russia going to get? is it going to be one of putin's associates?

and if so, why should things change?

do you intend to go back to being part of that, as you see it, post—putin, very different russian future? mikhail khodorkovsky, i thank you very much, indeed, for being on hardtalk. thank you. hello. the weekend brought us lots more dry and settled weather. now, april 2022 is turning out

to be a notably dry april, particularly towards the south. this was the picture as the sun set in north yorkshire sunday evening, and we've got a bit more of the same. so, no great changes in the weather forecast over the next few days. it stays mainly dry and settled. you'll notice it'll be a little bit cooler and cloudier compared to the weekend, but also less of a breeze around, too. high pressure in charge of our weather at the moment, sitting to the north of the uk, but over the next few days, it drifts further south, sitting right across the uk by the time we get to wednesday. so, monday morning, then, temperatures 4—8 degrees in our towns and cities. a bit colder than that in the countryside first thing, so a fresh start to the day. most places largely dry with some sunshine. a little bit more cloud drifting in from the east compared to recent days, bringing a few showers to parts of eastern england through the morning. and later in the afternoon, as the cloud bubbles up, could be one or two morejust drifting their way west across central parts of england and wales, too. but many places staying dry, avoiding those showers. temperatures 16 degrees or so towards the south west, but only ten under that cloud across the north east of scotland.

through monday evening and overnight into tuesday, we'll see a bit more of that cloud in the north starting to try and push its way a bit further south, but clearer skies towards parts of england and wales mean we could just see a touch of grass frost heading into the early hours of tuesday morning. so, again, a bit of a fresh start of the day, but another predominantly dry, settled day. probably a little bit more cloud, particularly across eastern parts of scotland and england, too. just one or two rogue showers, i think, developing during the afternoon. so, a little bit more cloud than recent days, still some sunshine, still mild towards the south, 16—17 degrees. but temperatures are going to struggle to get out of single—figures for north east england and eastern scotland with that cloud around. the breeze coming off a cool north sea over the next few days. a similar picture into wednesday, north—easterly breeze, but light winds for most. predominately dry once again, but a bit more cloud around, particularly towards the east, and temperatures between about 9—11; degrees by this stage in the week. high pressure then moves its way further south. not many isobars on the map here as we look through thursday and, in fact,

into friday, too. so, the weather looking predominantly dry, variable amounts of cloud, some sunny spells and temperatures getting into the mid—teens for most of us. but it will be a largely dry end to a dry month. bye— bye.

welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm marie goy. the headlines... emanual macron becomes the first french president to be re—elected in 20 years. translation: from now on, | i'm not a candidate any more. i'm now the president of everyone. defiant in defeat — marine le pen says she'll use her best results ever as a springboard for the future. translation: tonight's . historic score puts our camp in an excellent position to obtain a large number

of deputies next june.