it says here you are using an agile approach and this will ake some time to complete. would you tell me what kind of patches you are talking about. or that they are referring to. >> thank you for that question, sir. agile is an approach for instead of putting all your requirements together and many years down the road you have capability online. as the secretary mentioned, every 90 days you put more capability, more functional hands of the employees in v.b.a. so they can keep processing forms. it is entering and processing every 90 days. in between the 90 days, if there are things you need to adjust or tweak, we add that capability in as well. so high cycle rate, making sure we are putting capability on the

ground so that the folks in v.b.a. can drive themselves to that outcome. recognizes the

gentlewoman from florida, ms. ros-lehtinen, >> the prime minister was also at the atlantic council discussed the future of the country. this is 40 minutes.

>> cadaver or noon, ladies and gentlemen. i'm president and ceo of the atlantic council and we welcome you to this very important event, this historic visit meeting with the ukrainian prime minister. he's coming to us directly from the white house. councilto the atlantic and thank you for including us in your extraordinarily busy and important itinerary. a very largebled community of influence here. anyone of you who would like to spread the word please use #a cukraine. word to thetend a

talented delegation. ukrainian ambassador to the united states, with whom we work enormously closely, as well as several of your officials. we have worked with many of them in one form or another and it's a testament to the importance of countrysage and of your that so many ambassadors, council does, members of the press are here today. crisis has played out and now it is complicated by another crisis, the russian seizure of crimea and the effort ukraine.ilize the prime minister has risen to this crisis only two weeks in the job and he's already met almost all of his counterparts in europe and north america and has become his nation's point person in rallying the international community behind a united democratic ukraine.

shortly after the prime minister arrived in washington, g7 leaders issued a harsh statement calling for a halt of the referendum saying they would not recognize the results as legal and saying "the nx station of crimea could have grave implications for the legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all states." such a step,ake said the g7, we will take further action individually and collectively. i has seldom seen such a strong statement. we have the ambassadors for germany and the u.k. here, a

strong sign of solidarity. to use the u.s. ambassador to 's call to action, your moment is now. this demands urgency of focus but we must plan for the long game. the atlantic council has been doing both, acting urgently and planning for the long game. we have launched our own 100 day action plan which will take us through the may elections and into the first month of the new president's term. this will be part of a larger commitment to work on ukraine. george and members tothe atlantic council board help us ramp up our work on this issue.

the prime minister was appointed on february 27. he was a central galvanize her of the protest and a key architect of the then opposition peaceful,o ensure constitutional transfer of power in ukraine. this job prepared. asm 2001-2003 he served minister of the economy of crimea and later led the central bank, minister of economy, and had of the talks to join the world trade organization all before taking in leadership roles as foreign minister and then chairman of the ukraine parliament. he's uniquely prepared to provide the steady hand that ukraine now needs to balance its many challenges. mr. prime minister, welcome. the floor is yours.

[applause] >> it's a great pleasure and honor to address such a distinguished audience. i will give a short introduction but it's must -- much more important to me to listen to your advice and questions. this is a very dramatic time for my country. on was entirely unpredictable to me and i'll accept multiple world. grounds,eason, with no in the past, but i

believe this country will be a antner in the future started incursion into ukrainian territory, started to invade an independent and sovereign country. my country is facing both military and economic challenges. believe the option to tackle the military crisis with a political and somatic tool. ticking, these is not as big as they were last week. these options, these tools, they are still on the table. we asked the russian federation to immediately pull back their forces and to start real talks

and negotiations. we, as the new ukrainian government, are ready to hold an on how to tackle these genetic crisis of the 21st century. this is not the crisis just between ukraine and russia. worse. it is a global crisis. this would definitely undermine the entire global security. i am wondering about the goals the ssia to draw 's, revise the outcomes of the second world war, to restore the soviet union, or to preserve peace and stability in the region.

on behalf of the ukrainian government, i would like to adhere to all we international, multilateral, and includingobligations the russian black sea deployment treaty. we ask russia to stick to its and to execute international obligations. we are facing an ongoing economic crisis. consequence of rampant corruption and we believe the talks we resume with would help successfully accomplish.

program, we need to overhaul the entire financial such are and to move further in terms of economic success and prosperity. we have relaunched and restarted negotiations with our european of thes and we command american people that you demonstrated to the ukrainian people. all eu member states, heads of government, president am a that day made in a statement last week saying that ukraine is to be a sovereign, independent .ountry

they're going to make a very solvent and strong step in order to make ukraine an integral part of the european union. what is at stake today? the future of my country and the freedom of my people. it's all about freedom. we want to be very clear. we will never surrender. we will do whatever we can in order to help my country remain an independent one. supportto rely on the and we do understand that it is up to the ukrainian people to shape our future.

the new ukrainian government is ready to deliver change. youre ready to deliver that cannot do it with russian tanks and russian soldiers on your soil. i feel very out of mystic. optimistic.ry i believe that we will find a solution, that we will tackle this crisis, that we will do everything to make ukraine a prosperous state. i'm ready for any type of q and a. let's get down to business. [applause] >> mr. prime minister, thank you , executive vice president here arei would like to extend

welcome to you. thank you for those remarks. .kraine will never surrender i want to get, and started and then we will turn to the audience. real time asing in he was sitting there with president obama and getting a very strong statement of support on the eve of the vote in crimea. what can you tell us? how have your talks gone? do feel comfortable that the u.s. and the union are now going to operate in service of ukraine? >> it was a very open and frank

discussion. we avoided the diplomatic language. we appreciate the support that , thiserican people bipartisan support that you have demonstrated. it is great to have the eu and the u.s. eking in one simple voice. i see that the western world is determine to presents ukrainian independence. what we already got was the package of financial aid on the table. the key factors that the united announced $1y billion in guarantees for this they believed in -- for the

stability of ukraine. they said that they will do whatever they can to support the ukrainian people. with the way that the u.s. and the eu helps us to understand this crisis. >> if i may, you said in your remarks that you would never surrender, ukraine would never surrender. we have heard the strategies that have become a strategy for ukraine today and this crisis. how do you see this playing out? what is ukraine's strategy? you follow the peaceful process but it is not inevitable that it can continue.

help us understand in terms of this crisis. >> much will depend on the strategy of russia. personal depend on the vision and stance of president clinton. i would like to reiterate that we still want to have a free and equal partnership with russia. you cannot do it having a military incursion. consider a military option to fixbest this crisis. in a new, globalized world we need to figure out the better strategies and i insist on political and somatic tools.

what is the best strategy? the best strategy is to sit and negotiate. approach is to stop and calm down. >> what do you think president putin's strategy is? how far is he willing to take this? is his calculation affected by what's going on in brussels today? >> he's the only person who .nows there are different scenarios. they made this incursion on artificial grounds. was absolutely astonishing. that's not only because of she

speaks russian. as the new ukrainian government, we will preserve the rights of all minorities including russian speakers. of newfirst days government, they are revealed .nd decided the russian speaking minority is under the comprehensive. another reason was the so-called anti-somatic. this is the first government where deputy prime minister represents the jewish community.

we will fight with anyone who proclaims something that resembles fascism. the best scenario for president who missed takeover crimea in another form. they definitely have another case scenario how to take over ukraine. ukrainian capital. it all depends on personal goals. hisprobably do remember speech that the biggest disaster of the last century is the

.ollapse of the soviet union i will say that the biggest disaster of this century would be the restoration of the soviet union. >> thank you, mr. prime minister. i think that's an important statement. i will ask one more. i have just come back from kiev and walking through even through the streets of the my don -- maidan today. recognize the ukraine is in a crisis and need to come together. different? time grade up ms. and was undermined .s infighting undermining unity challengingckeying actual governance. how is this a different opportunity for ukraine?

how do you get your task right? >> the quest has happened -- look what has happened. regime killed 101 innocent people. the death toll is more than 100 people. for what? for their fight to have a free country? for their freedoms and liberties/ 2004 and then of , the bloodstains on the jacket of the former president and the former government. .he sentiment is very different

on the other hand, people are very united. they have shown their determination to fight for the country. find ofreally the great this country. we do not have just the territory after this revolution. we have the nation. this is the outcome. >> let me turn to the audience ask a quick question. >> michael gordon, "the new york times."

you are interested in a political solution. could you elaborate what your vision of what a political solution might look like? conditions and circumstances might there be a referendum in crimea or ukraine as part of that solution? thank you. >> thank you. starting with taxes and ending with language issues. we're ready to start the dialogue of the constitutional ,ne in the ukrainian parliament having everyone sitting in the table.

making each step in the , this is anal manner referendum with an expected result and it seems to me that already hit the toll. my message is clear. this is illegitimate and --stitutional unconstitutional. there is no legitimate government in crimea. there are some people who get the support of 18,000 russian seizers and to unconstitutionally and grab the power.

>> let me pick up these to the questions right here. >> although you said it is unconstitutional, we know the crimea referendum is getting nearer. negotiating to solve this kind and after you met with barack obama and john kerry today, but is the most difficult thing in solving the crisis? >> we will take the question right next to her so you can take both. >> thank you for your stirring remarks. i went to fast forward a bit. this could easily make crimea into afghanistan. could you comment on the prospect of an insurgency? there are already reports of jihad us to move into crimea.

>> that is what we want to avoid. thatinto consideration crimea is a heavily populated area. this could raise an ethnic question, too. that's the reason why the ukrainian government is very .autious and prudent president to use military force, they expected us and to start the military operation. for example, i can give you the facilitiesaircraft excluding the nuclear aspect. i would like to reiterate again

that we need to do everything we can. everyone in the world who wants stability. peace and if it stops, there will be no end. >> let me turn to the next question here. thishen we will pick up one right here. >> mr. prime minister, how confident in the people of the ukraine and your government, the western support that is being promised including economic sanctions will actually be realized? history of assurances to ukraine are not very encouraging.

[captions copyright national able satellite corp. 2014] [captions performed by national captioning institute] >> mr. prime minister, trying to fix the economy is an urgent crisis. in a little more than two months, presidential elections are scheduled. there are reports, rumors of postponing those elections. how confident are that ukraine will be ready to hold elections in two months, and how do you think it will that they will have credible elections that everyone will recognize? >> starting with the first question, it is not just about ukraine, as i mentioned. it is about the global security. let me remind you that in 1994,

a budapest memorandum emerged where signatures guaranteed an independence and tear torle integrity of the ukrainian states. and look what has happened. we abandoned our nuclear weapons. right? we did. we executed this memorandum. and today we asked for the protection. if we don't get this protection, tell me the way how the world is to reinforce or ask another country to stop their nuclear progress? it's impossible to convince, in this case, someone to hold uclear proliferation programs.

this is the global problem. and it's up to all of us to fix it. david, on the elections, on the presidential elections, the elections are scheduled for the 25 of may. and we are ready to hold free and fair elections. we do understand that a number of folks will do everything in order to undermine this election, to stop them, to postpone, to delay, to have another kind of uncertainty in my country. but we launch this. the central election commission is working within scheduled. so we are ready to hold free and fair presidential elections. we asked an international observer to observe these elections. and i still believe -- not just

believe, i am sure of it, that elections are to be held as scheduled. and it is on the 25 of may. the new president will -- not the new president, but on the 25th of may we will have a clear picture who is to be the new president. because this is a two-round plex, and a horse race and another two rounds. mic in the to the back. >> i'd like to first congratulate you on rising to the challenge of this situation which poses a risk to ukraine, and your and you

government and the people as a whole have obviously risen to this challenge with great fort tude and conviction. because you and the nation recognize a risk. my question is, does the rest of the world, in your opinion, recognize the risk? this is not just a risk to ukraine, but it is a risk really to the stable world order. forbodes the at possibility of a new wave of aggression that spreads not just in eastern europe, but throughout the globe. in your estimation, in dealing with this problem, do you feel that the international community sufficiently recognizes what's at stake? >> thank you. ust pass the mic down. my question is, obviously,

what we are witnessing these days is not the first instance when russia is violating the .nternational law would be, how do you mitigate these circumstances? on the other hand, what are the lessons to be learned from the international community to be more effective in this case in this crisis?

>> we are ready to sacrifice in rder to protect. >> you even referred to the task as political suicide. >> so let me put it this way. on the conflict in 2008 in the a, these are plications of bucharest -- impolitics. if you don't have map, you have something else, like military aggression. and -- and this is the dramatic question for all of us.