[000:00:00;00] ah, this is the w news life from berlin, finland's president and prime minister, and i'm support for nato membership. it's the 1st that been a move that would and decades of military non aligned popular opinion in the country has swung in favor of joining western alliance since russia's invasion of ukraine also on the program, gave off as a prisoner swap to get wounded fighters out of the embattled tomatti of all steel plant,

offering to hand over russian prisoners of war in return to north korea confirms its 1st official outbreak of cope at 19 national lockdown place after the fact spreading. army con variant is reported to the capital. phil, yeah ah, i'm still gail, welcome to the program cylinder. president and prime minister have caused the country to apply for nato membership as soon as possible. in a joint statement, a sally minister and santa martin said nater, membership would strengthen finland, security as a member of nato. finland would strengthen the entire defense alliance. finland must apply for nato membership without delay. this is the 1st step in the process that could see the country rollback decades of military non alignment announcement is expected to put pressure on sweden,

which is also considering applying fedloan shares a 1300 kilometer border with russia. the mood in the country has changed dramatically. since moscow's invasion, if you cry as d, w reporter unity, rosetta reports wargames to secure the peace. more than 3000 finished troops and 700 vehicles took part in the arrow 22 military exercises in west and finland. the exercises were conducted to with nature as plant last autumn. armed forces from 5 countries are taking part of this military exercises the host. finland is not a later member yet, but that could change soon. for the 1st time in their history, the majority of fence want to join nato. a turning point in history, keenly felt by people in law, pandora, on the border with russia. for decades that they have benefited from living in

peace within the boss. welcoming a steady stream of russian tourists from near by st. petersburg says social worker, linda brant. up, in my opinion, i never saw russia as a threat. but now i'm constantly thinking about our common border. it's over a 1000 kilometers. the fis near by border crossing is seeing little traffic from either side at the moment. this is partly due to corona virus relate that restrictions, but it's also a direct consequence of russia's invasion of ukraine. the war has dramatically changed to the fence attitude towards joining nato in just a few weeks. my, i got a mil at 1st. i thought we shouldn't get involved and military alliances, but i am. but now i think we should have made the decision a long time ago that my eyes have been opened and i no longer see nato as some kind

of war association. but as a defense alliance leave that alone for the defense through deterrence has been the principle behind the latest reinforcement of its eastern flank in recent months. the idea being a strong defense whom not to be attacked. meadow says it will benefit from the finish. our miss military capabilities. i think we are ready ready to, to entertain a dave if this is a will be made. we have been training to get her with her with a good partners which are basically made apart as you know, exercises for, for, for yes. so that should be a problem. at the moment, finland, isn't they to partner, but not a member of the block? so it may be from ogden to that. nevertheless, finish forces have worked closely with nato for decades. ah, the others that boy one mentally the da. so i met formulate them, i was,

i hope that we'll join nato as soon as possible or crime nasa. so buffalo fall and that the war in ukraine will end soon and that europe will live in peace and stability. i thought of a little back of my lie. i offer for, you know, you linda brant asked, the believe joining nature would help people, even the small, bold, a town of lump and rather feel safe. now, she says that that now at peaceful and stable fin lump is only possible, as in may to member wow. alex understood as a form of prime minister of finland. i put it to him, but many fail. today's announcement was long overdue. well, certainly, i've been an advocate, the finish nato membership for the better part of 30 is probably one could say that better late than never. and i must say that this will go down in history of nato's 9th enlargement, which is pretty much who a large man without his attack or ukraine. i don't think the finished public

opinion would have changed radically as in house. so what methods you think this tends to vladimir putin? well, i think the president of finland salinas that said it quite well yesterday. you know, all you need to do is in cram look in the mirror. it sends a message that when finsen suites feel unsafe, they seek for security elsewhere. not the good news of course is that we are more data compatible. the most nato states. we have reserves of 900000. we have mobility of 280000. we have 62 at faith thieves and sued 64 f 35. so we're very much a security asset for the alliance. it's a win win for nordic security. both exceed security, european security, and the alliance. it's an interesting though, that, but russia annex crimea in 2014 while you were prime minister. so what, why do you think it is? it is, it has taken bruton, launching an all out war on ukraine photo failing to send this message to russia.

finally, we should probably go a little bit further. i was for a minister in 2008, the chairman of the a c. and together with french 4 minutes the best not questionnaire. we broke or to cease fire in georgia in 5 days. that was the 1st warning signal after that in a speech called 080808. i called for a reassessment to finish nate membership, but i got a very strong push back. 2014. i don't think europe and the west reacted strongly enough. but when you go into full scale conventional warfare, when you kill innocent human beings, women and children, that's what people react. and that's where i think booted made a tactical and strategic mistake, which he's not paying for. all right, and then let's look at the russian reaction to this news because we've heard from the russian foreign ministry a saying that finland joining night. so is a radical change in the countries foreign policy. if i go on to say, russia will be forced to take retaliate 3 steps, both of a military, technical,

and other nature in order to stop threats to its national security. what's your reaction to that? normal russian rhetoric, remember fin, start cool, calm and collected? we don't get flustered by much, so we'll see a lot of cyber attacks and probably information wars in the next few days. information was the type of stuff that you just had there, but we'll get that in finland in sweden and then also. and this is a warning to. busy all of our future nato partners. there'll be a lot of this information about feeling joining nato, but we're not excessively worried. nothing is going to happen on the eastern flag because of feeling joining nato. this is an interesting mindset, but the close the water potential danger that mo, you sort of get used to it because as well as what the kremlin has said today, we've heard the moscow repeatedly warning that it might deploy nuclear weapons. if finland and sweden was a joint, nate, so, so you see this is just more russian saber rattling, no,

it's actually fake news. i mean, we need to remind president former president, but via the nuclear missiles are already there in clinic right around the baltic sea region. but this is the way in which russia trying to intimidate filament sweet and out of the decision of joining nato. of course, the reverse will happen, so the more there are threats, the more popularity for nato membership increases. remember, when this war started, we were down to about 20 percent of the population in favor of nato membership, with russian action and threats. we're now up to 76 percent the now with the prime minister president coming out today, we're going to be north of 80 percent in favor of nato membership juxtaposed that with our e referendum, 99457 in favor. 43, not so don't mess with finish. security, i guess is what the finish public is trying to tell russia. ok, and it's as, as neighbors it's, it's such a really interesting and complex history. you have

a 1300 kilometer a border. the relationship house has been fractious, but you have stayed out of the western military alliance this until now. so when you see the relationship going from here, well i think so the foreseeable future. so we're talking few years ahead. we will see an isolated russia and more or less 40 european democracies on the other side of the fast. but of course, as you said, we have 1340 kilometers border with russia. our security policy is always based on a careful assessment of 2 things, idealism and realism. idealism, in the sense that bone off the day we want to cooperate with russia and make them part of the west. but realism, we upkeep one of the largest militaries in europe. that's the reality on the ground . you know, we've always reacted to situations in 18 o 9. we maximize thought on the 1970 with declared independence, 944. we reluctantly accepted peace and lost 10 percent of our country in

1992 we applied for you membership and now in 2022 we apply for nato membership. and the only reason for this is who this booth is aggression. so that's for headline, the headline is that it looks like the country is in favor of, of, of applying to join nato. do you anticipate any significant objections, domestically or indeed, amongst nato members? double answered no, and no domestic. this is a foregone conclusion. listen, all parties are now basically favor parliament is going to vote in favor, i guess about a $180.00 out of $200.00 these next wednesday. so that is clear. on the 30 nato a member states, we accept a fairly rapid ratification. probably the quickest in the history of nathan membership. and the reason for that is that finland and sweden are asked to possible to nato ask, can be. i think all the countries in nato see us as

a security asset, rob that of course, i mean that since we will, it's a win win for us, for the baltic sea region and for the alliance. so no problems with that from time . what's a finish up form of finish prime minister alex on the stopped speaking with me a little earlier ukraine is proposing a prisoner swap to resolve the stand off of the as of styles. steel planting. mateo paul plan would allow wounded ukrainian soldiers to move to safety in exchange for ukraine releasing russian prisoners of war. meanwhile, ukrainian forces say they have successfully pushed back russian troops around the northeastern city of hockey. if some residents who fled the fighting have begun returning to their villages. oh, go go with your home. at last, tatiana has returned to her village for the 1st time in 2 months. but there's not much left of her house. her garden is littered with the aftermath of russia's

invasion. tatiana, as goats, at least, survived the ice line. you met with them? you had russians are brothers is no good. i could never imagined anything like this, this aggression victory and destruction. israel when i came home, i kissed the ground. now i have nothing. where am i supposed to live and what you do was your neighbors in the village weren't spared either. and also came back to find the piles of rubble where their homes one stood but perhaps nowhere either ruins greater than mar you, paul. after weeks of relentless bombardment, russian forces in their separatist allies are no one controlled of almost all of the strategic port city. before rebuilding can begin,

cruise must 1st clear massive amounts of rubble. i used to have 3 rooms now, only half of one. when i came up from the shelter, i opened the door and there was no apartment any more. that was scary. residents who have remained behind are now trying to get on with their lives. and in many cases, that means improvising the loan hold out of resistance remains the us up style. steel plant, where fighters trapped under ground have been withstanding russian pounding the ukrainian government has proposed to swapping them and exchange for russian soldiers captured during their invasion of ukraine. well, d w reporter, i'm in a safe is in levine in the west and ukraine. i asked him for the latest on those ukrainian soldiers hold up in that steel planting,

body helpful. russia is determined as ever to annihilate that steel planted to take a victory there over the as of regiment which has been occupying the steel plant, holding up. they're, they're basically the last defenders left in mar, you poll, which is this strategic city. they've said that ground troops are bombarding the plant with shells. they've also said that the worst problem is drones, which from russian drones, which they have no way to protect against. now there have been conflicting reports about whether or not they're civilians left in that steel plant. the ukrainian government said there weren't but then local authorities said there were, but it seems like what they're referring to is those wounded soldiers who are no longer fighting and they're considering them civilians. they want to get them out of there. now the government of ukraine has proposed a prisoner swap with russia. the russia at this point says, that's an unusual request that they won't swap prisoners of war for combatants who are no longer fighting, but have not yet submitted to russian troops. it have not yet given up their so

russia has so far denied that the prisoner swap could happen under those terms. okay, now that the ukranian president has recently a praise dies force his latest counter offensive. i'm just talk us through some of those claimed achievers. well, recently another village was liberated according to the ukrainian army from a russian forces. and that's an addition to each that we're liberated so far since last week. basically what's happening is the ukranian troops are pushing russians away from her son, sorry, from harkey, which is the 2nd largest city in ukraine. and they push him so far away now that they're out of the city is out of range of russian artillery, which is a godsend for a people living in that city who will no longer have to face shelling from russian ground forces. now, lensky also said not to expect a victory every single day. he's warned people to be patient. and this kind of confirms and echoes what u. s. intelligence has said, which is we're seeing

a stalemate in the east now with russia, claiming a new territory, new villages, even surrounding the city of sara done yet, which is in the east and not yet claim by russia. so it's really one victory for ukraine. one victory from russia and really a stalemate there. we've also heard reports though that ukraine has a bond across the border in russia. the mate, the governor of a territory on the russian side, said one russian was killed in an air strike that hasn't been confirmed by ukraine . ok, thank you for that. i me an s if in the v but away from the war, north korea has officially reported its 1st cases of coven 19 having previously claimed to have had no infections. north korean leader kim jong own was seen bearing a face mask for the 1st time at a meeting at which he declared a national lockdown. despite the move, he still refusing international office of health with vaccinations and his caps. his country's board is closed. the exact number of cases of possible sources of the

outbreak of not being disclosed last june, mr. frank smith in sol. what this admission about that the north about to north korean efforts to deal with the pandemic tells us well, i think it tells us largely north korea's efforts to deal with a pandemic or have field. as you mentioned, for 2 years, it suggested it had 0 coded 19 cases. that's not something the international community and health officials around the world really believed. but it was still something of an admission to here. north korea say now admit that it, it does have a coven 19 in the country, and it pierced is that invincible sort of or that kim jo noon wants to provide to his people. he was, you know, kind of trying to scape goat health care officials in the country, blaming them for this outbreak,

and suggesting that it was their fault. and again, also calling on officials to work hard to eradicate coven 19 in the country. phil, so do we presume that this admission means that the outbreak is likely to be very, very serious? yes, i think we could, we could say it's likely to be very serious. it's hard for us to know how much cove in 1000 there is in north korea right now. north korea was one of the 1st countries to seal it's border with china when coven 19 broke out. this is january 2020. following that medical supplies daily since necessities failed to get into kiln yang and there was kind of panic around the world. so foreigners emptied out of pyongyang, embassy officials, and n g o. v are sources of information about what's going on in north

korea. so knowing what's going on there right now, how serious the pandemic might be is kind of difficult north korea news. so based website report today, however, that multiple sources in pyongyang, i've said there is panic, buying and shortages stores today. bill. right, so given what you said about the kim john own blaming the health system and health services for this, what do we know of the state of north korea's health infrastructure? can it cope with an army come outbreak? well that's a, that's a really a broad concern that we're hearing from health care officials. 26000000 people. that's the population of north korea, largely unvaccinated. the arm across very in that they have admitted is broken out in pyongyang is highly, highly transmissible. and it has a good lap updated health care system if we look at how other developed countries

coped with things, even with a robust system, they were challenge. there are a lot of factors involved. one thing is certain north korea needs to get vaccines and medical supplies in the country as soon as possible. it's really a race against time to see how serious this operate for pyongyang in north korea really is phil. thank you so much for that. frank smith in. so let's take a look at small stores, making headlines around the world will stay with north korea because the south says john young as test launched a 3 short range ballistic missiles to see the military parade. seen here in april, north korean leader kim jong on said he would speed up the development of nuclear weapons despite a un resolution banning and all launching ballistic missiles capable of carrying a memorial service for al jazeera journalist,

a should be as being held in the palestinian city of rama. she was killed the day before while covering. i mean really right in the west bank palestinian leaders say israel was fully responsible the journalist death. israel says it is still unclear who killed top, diplomats from diplomats from the group of 7 wealthy nations are meeting in germany to discuss the war in cray energy and food security relations with china and climate change rules on the agenda. ukraine's foreign minister was amongst them in 10, invited to attend a 3 day summit, as again i can tell you right away. united states says it has now more than a 1000000 coping deaths. u. s. president joe biden describe it as a tragic milestone is comments. i came ahead of a virtual summer on the pandemic, which will appeal for a renewed international commitment on attacking the virus. russia threatened to our allies that went german,

asked in order mathias mara started his 6 month mission to the international space station. there was no question about continuing cooperation with russian cosmonaut . but the invasion of ukraine has thrown this into doubt. now back from his mission, he says that up in space, there's no sign of conflict. the view of a roster not mathias myra. this was a personal highlight of his time in orbit as all the test was actually the noise when i'm choking up with. and then you look at our planet and you recognize things that you've only heard about the statistics. and suddenly you take what's happening down there to heart. you see where people live, where people impact on nature. when nature is changing ended. mauer spent just the 6 months on the international space station. but the assist under an incredibly good job up in space. so a lot of experiments are, have been conducted there, but also an e v. a which of course is always a highlight. russia invaded ukraine,

georgia bowers time and space. but the relationship with the russian cosmonaut on board state positive. so i did some reminder and the insulin in the space community we've built up so much trust in the past 20 or more than 20 years. we have met, we mention that we lighted and we want to carry on with that winter the even the last 4 at our level things are excellence and we want to act as a bridge to find a way back to that at once. this crisis is over in the clinton. russia has questioned the long term future of the i assess, but for now the program continues. in sport, the ukrainian man's national team has finally begun our preparations for its upcoming world cup qualification. much against scotland of a game had been due to be played in march, but was postponed because of the russian invasion and will not take place in june. ukraine kicked off their preparations on wednesday night with

a charity game to german bundis league aside for us him luncheon. glad. ah, raising money to help ukrainian suffering as a result of the russian invasion of their country. all the proceeds from mention glad back. friendly game against the ukraine. national team will be donated to charitable efforts in the country. what's more ukraine nationals could attend. the match free of charge was were it was a great event. it was important. we said yes. as soon as the request came in, so we could help ukraine in their bid to reach tickets. our world cup it is much below. i think the friends have seen a really interesting game speakers in ukraine's last match was in november 2021. in may, a training base was established in slovenia to prepare for their qualifier against scotland on june. first, the winner will then face wills for a place at the world cup. with less than one month to go. training and test matches are absolutely imperative if they're to reach their ultimate goal before the match

. ukraine, coach, alexandra pet. your cost spoke to d. w. of course it's very important for all of us. if i could get them to the world college, i could say i've lived my life for a reason. it's important for any player because we have younger players, but also older players for whom it might be the last chance to be as a world cup. so 1st, target up to glasgow is to go to cardiac and play wales. and after that we can hopefully focus on our goal is going to the will of cup ukraine strives to reach the world cup to bring some happiness and hope to their nation. in this time of suffering in war is reminder of our top story, this our simmons latest have called for that country to apply for nature membership as soon as possible. it's the 1st step in the process which could see that finland and decades of military non aligned ukraine has proposed

a deal with russia to get its wounded fighters after the fossil spell. still, plant negotiations continue on a plan that would see seriously injured ukrainian. soldiers evacuated in exchange for russian christmas. oh, well there's at the top of the, our next here on the w, tim. sebastian has conflicts with

with who entered the conflict with tim sebastian reporter, whose victory day parade in moscow. no sign of the war and ukraine is coming to an end. russia is lead. loan doing is power and he's, i'm blaming the way for his invasion. and will the west ever deal with him again? a question to ralph stag metamora social democrat member, the german bundis todd, who joins me this week. conflict zone next on

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n. a molecule though has 28000000 different our glasses. they are peers and rivals with one during goal, 2 out smart nature. one of the most insightful discoveries in the history of mankind. more life starts may 28th on d, w. d. like he may approach this victory day parade in moscow rules, no sign of the war and ukraine is coming to an end. russia's leader flaunting his power and these weapons and blaming the west for his invasion. but will the west ever deal with him again? a question to rouse stag to democrats, members of the german book. the stock joins me this week from paddling. our aim is not regime change or weakening one or the other country, but getting the war stopped and put in to put back as troops. but what about