[000:00:00;00] mr. andrius andrius almenis, president of the institute of regions of russia, lithuanian institute, captain of the reserve of the lithuanian armed forces, one of the founders of the freedom party of the republic of lithuania, the forum of the free peoples of russia is being held in brussels . that our colleagues will work , and serhiy rudenko and his verdict will be with us, so to speak to ukraine, this is a verdict program, my name is serhiy rudenko. good day and good health to all. today is the first of february, the 343rd day of the heroic resistance of the ukrainian people to the russian occupiers. biden and zelensky can

meet in poland. western press reports. igor kolomoiskyi, two top officials were suspected of purchases for the ministry of defense of ukraine, we are waiting for the continuation of these searches and spring landings, as announced by david arahamia , putin may try to conduct a full-scale the attack of ukraine from the north, south and east as it happened on february 24, 2022 at the tract and before the anniversary of the war, this was stated by the secretary of the national security and defense council about nilov in an interview with sky news, meanwhile, the russian army continues to lose manpower and equipment in ukraine due to as of february 1, russia has already lost 128,420 people in ukraine in the last day alone

, the armed forces of ukraine destroyed 920 orks with the beginning of the great war, the russians have already lost in ukraine 329 tanks, 6,382 armored fighting vehicles, 2,207 artillery systems, 458 of rocket salvo fire systems 221 means of air defense 293 airplanes 284 helicopters and 5.61 units of automotive equipment 18 ships boats 796 cruise missiles 1951 drone 211 special equipment bakhmut remains a hot spot on the front providing certificates russian invaders lost more than 500 people during the battles in the area of ​​the city killed and wounded so, biden is flying to a meeting with zelensky, which is planned in poland, there already the president of the united states of america intends

to meet with the president of poland, because putin continues to threaten the world well, the ukrainian government continues to clear the government of corruption and russia is preparing a full-scale offensive, according to the secretary of the national security and defense council oleksiy danilov, we will talk about all this for the next hour, i want to introduce today's guest - he is a diplomat , the permanent representative of ukraine at the un 2000 in 1997-2001 and 2015-2019, as well as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of ukraine to the united states of america in 2020-2021 volodymyr yelchenko p volodymyr good day good health, i am glad to see you on our broadcast. good day, i am glad to see you, mr. volodymyr. let's start with

today's extraordinary events, because these events actually give an idea of ​​what and how the ukrainian authorities want to do next. i mean mass searches in the top officials and oligarchs is meant igor kolomoisky, e.e. came today from the sbu and dbr to the former minister of internal affairs arsen avakov to e.e. vadim the joiner , developer of kyiv and deputy of the verkhovna rada from the opz, e.e. david arkhamia already wrote on his telegram page that there will be further searches today. has the tax service already received notices of suspicion of a high-ranking official of the ministry of defense, a whole series of secret actions, the dismissal of the entire management staff of the customs office, that's all that

is happening today. it seems that it was all postponed until february 1, 2023. during the last four years, and among all this there are demands on people from the united states of america, in particular ihor kolomoiskyi, who is being investigated for embezzlement united states of america, according to you, can all these actions be directed at the fact that ukraine has decided to demonstrate to the united states of america determination in the fight against corruption with unseemly officials and bribers, and it all started here. this is how it is, on february 1 , 2023, i will say. that is exactly what i hope for. because this is not the first time and it is no secret that the american side has never turned a blind eye to it and no one

has canceled corruption in ukraine and there will be corruption and i hope no one will cancel it and that is why it is very on time especially since there is a company going on in parallel. well, there was already a statement from the ministry of finance of the united states literally today and yesterday evening about what they saw in ukraine, well, this is such a special audit group that came to us, they did not spoil any violations regarding the use of financial aid provided by the united states of america, the united states has very tight control over everything, because it is the money of taxpayers, that is, ordinary americans, and the congress and , of course, the executive branch also closely monitor it, so i still

once again, i hope that this is only the beginning, to be honest, we have been waiting for this for a long time. that is, we need it, you understand, we need to do it, not for the united states of america, if we are talking about joining the european union and nato, and this process has already started, and it seems to me that it is not reversible then again, no one canceled the demands of the fight against corruption. that is, it is the right reform and judicial reform, but the first place is always pre-basque corruption, especially since the numbers we have in the corruption index, i don't remember the names of the pensions, in fact, in an honest place , that's why there are still, as they say, huge receptors, and i very much hope that this struggle will not be continued in words, but in fact , the president will clean himself completely after that, i, volodymyr, you were the extraordinary

plenipotentiary ambassador of the united states of america of ukraine to the united states of america, as is usually the case with the transmission of these signals that well, you guys put a little more pressure on the corrupt and the bribe-takers, because it depends our help depends on this, this is what ukrainian officials directly say to the president, the prime minister, or the minister of internal affairs there, to the head of the sbu, about what should be done, or are there some such hints in the diplomatic mail, eh, well, eh, at least during my tenure of the american the party has never hidden this issue, it was always said directly at all levels and it was conveyed to me repeatedly, that is, there are different channels, they are transmitted through our diplomats through the embassy of ukraine in washington, and we usually reported these signals

this was said to the leadership of the ukrainian state during the visits of high-ranking officials and from the president to individual ministers . so i want to repeat once again that the americans , unlike perhaps some other countries , never hide those things that they demand from us and i repeat once again it's not the americans who need it, we need it, and that's the kind of signal that always goes through, what if guys look, if you 're talking about what you want to finally er, well, interrupt your past er- is this soviet? post-soviet and before that already in the category of really good-natured states, the fight against corruption should be in the first place, so this is not a secret, this is well known in all the own offices of the ukrainian state. well, even more so against the background of the aid that was planned this year the united

states of america of ukraine, let me remind you that 44 billion, almost 45 billion dollars , there was a message that the united states of america is preparing a new package of military aid for ukraine worth 2 billion 200 million dollars, which for the first time includes missiles longer range on the transfer of ammunition to ukraine with a range of 150 km and the united states of america can officially announce by the end of the week there was also information that biden may meet with zelenskyi and duda in poland, in particular, the polish mass media write about this, for their information, the meeting may it is expected to take place in warsaw or rzeszów. zelenskyi will present a peace plan and call for the introduction of an international conference dedicated to

ukraine. relations during the last uh year and especially during the last three months because zelensky's visit to the united states of america was so indicative and seems to me to be symbolic for ukraine and for the united states of america, first of all for ukraine uh, can we say that there are all some misunderstandings or there, let's say ukraine's claims to the fact that the united states of america was one of the guarantors of the budapest memorandum . did they not do something in 2014? is washington now making up for what we actually hoped for when we signed the budapest memorandum well, it seems to me that what is happening, well, the fact is that you know the conversation about whether the americans perform in the budapest random or not. they have been going on for a long time and always the american base was based on the fact

that by no means well who who and them in no way can you blame them for not fulfilling this memorandum from this is really true because even that military aid er, well , this is actually a direct fulfillment of their obligations, this is the budapest memorandum, that is, they provide us with specific assistance, very, very strong help, by the way, and great britain and france, well, france then joined the budapest memorandum, great britain is one of the signatories, we are together with the russian federation, how funny it may sound that these two countries, i think great britain and the usa they are doing everything necessary to fulfill their obligations, but the main thing is the support of ukraine, the support of our independence and the struggle for the restoration of territorial integrity. so, i think that there can be no complaints against the american representatives, and the fact that now this the process has become more active, well, this can be understood because they see all the danger that

exists and may be even greater if ukraine does not have enough, and therefore this aid will only increase. we already know about tanks , we already hear about airplanes, more long-range, let's say, missile weapons or artillery weapons, all this is done eh well, someone considers it within the limits of the budapest memorandum, and without it, but one way or another, we should be very grateful for the fact that this assistance is provided and is constantly increasing , volodymyr, on january 30, at the president's united joseph biden of the united states of america was asked whether washington would provide f16 fighter jets to ukraine and he briefly said no, well, it was a short dialogue and a short question from a journalist, as a short answer from the president of the united states of america, we know that before this the negotiations regarding the provision

of tanks were quite difficult because germany made the provision of leopards dependent on the provision of abrams or the promise to provide abrams in ukraine, what do you and i think, how do you see this situation now , or the united states of america, well, consciously they are detaining your heavy weapons in order not to be beaten, as they think , or let's say so that ukraine does not give more weapons and more opportunities for offensive actions against russia. although there is a minimal chance to retreat and leave them in some status, the people who made the decision made a mistake but still made the decision to retreat, that is, biden

still has some chance for putin . i don't think that's here we need to talk about some chances for putin, you know, the transfer of weapons is generally a military issue - it's a military secret well, to be honest, i personally don't like that the issue of supplying western weapons has become such a method of discussion between fans of football that is, all uh. it seems that the entire population of ukraine has already turned into experts uh, on various types of weapons, terms of its delivery, and so on. the less this issue is discussed uh, in the press, at least or in an open public space, the better. this the difficult question here is logistics and terms of production and delivery and how to deliver it. isn’t it such countries and so on

, that is, no one is going to bring this information to putin or the kremlin on a plate, so it is still necessary in advance so that the russian military knows where and what needs to be bombed on the way there we need to go to the east of ukraine. so i think that well, i think so too. i already said that i will do it, it seems to me that including your broadcasts that uh, i am sure that we are provided with much more diversity of weapons than this is being reported, uh, i'm saying this again about the process, we will feel it not for the first month that our pilots are preparing, our ones from kyiv , that is, everything is going according to plan there are ministers of foreign affairs or defense, this is only the tip of the iceberg . in fact, everything is happening. deep inside there is

a special contact or condensation group located in germany, which looks after all the issues that we are talking about, i think about it in advance , i will discuss it, it plans and logistics and quantity well, for example, i recently saw such a figure, it struck me as, to be honest, that the entire american military industry, well, the industry that produces, for example, projectiles, er , it can produce as many shells as the armed forces in a year, er, today ukraine is supposed to be shot in two or three weeks, that is, imagine the scale, well, there is even such information, i don't know if you can believe it or not, that we are stored in warehouses in the united states. well, they have already started

to get the scheme, well, some there eh nt eh how earlier they said the same projectiles, no wonder the americans are already looking for these projectiles in south korea and israel . that is, where they are, where you can take them without harming the american army itself, that’s the same thing. well, it’s possible that it will be equipped, it’s not tanks, it’s not airplanes, but the situation is different there it's all a complicated process, it all has to be prepared, no one will give what the country needs, that's why we hear that we're not satisfied that spain or holland or denmark gives only 24 tanks, and we want 200 to take 20, but that's it realities and that must be taken into account, and that's why i'm sure that all this is happening according to the plan that was approved long ago. and what is announced after the big meetings

in stoyan it is possible to speak publicly and not publicly, everything is happening far from the way we think about it, our military and our military-political leadership know about it, and i think that this is enough . on to the leopards and about what poland is ready to provide f16 well, it was a statement by the prime minister of poland to have only a paraplegic, however, then the minister of defense of poland refuted it , here are all the statements and the readiness of the western world to help ukraine, this means that there is a consolidated solution of the western powers to fight putin and put him in his place, i understand correctly, before these , what about heavy weapons, there were separate statements , but about such a large consolidated position

that would allow us to collect 160 or 200 tanks where well, approximately such a number is called whose 10 or 20 f16 fighters are to be obtained there , well, yes, no such solution was consolidated. i think that there would already be a concentrated solution in all parameters, er, well, this does not mean that all countries, for example, support such a solution, we we know, for example, the position here, not often, but this is an individual position , well, we may not like it, but we must also respect it. no, because we do not have the right to demand the supply of weapons from the country just because it loves it very much ukraine everyone has their own problems, their own questions. well, perhaps, father, this is a slightly different case, but there are countries, uh, well, in the same europe , uh, in western europe, where there simply aren't such a number, well, enough weapons to

separate our states, but yes or otherwise this position is consolidated eh we did not organize we heard statements about such supplies and we will open the history of the european union and from mr. stoltenberg from me nato education so thank you in that these decisions have been approved a long time ago it is simply about certain modifications about certain changes there strategies, tactics in terms of supply, but everything will in no way affect the fact that, well, such a global general decision to help ukraine until we defeat the russian federation, it will remain unchanged. - the fastest receipt of aircraft and heavy equipment, because as stated by the secretary of the national security and defense council oleksiy danylo, russia is preparing for the maximum

escalation danilov gave an interview to sky news he says that the enemy may try a new offensive from all sides in the coming weeks, according to him , about half of the 320,000 russians mobilized in the fall of last year will be involved in the second wave of a large-scale offensive. it is necessary to send more weapons, including fighter jets, we will hear what danilov said, they went a very difficult and long way, but i am aware that the main battles are still ahead , so they will be this year, so they will the next two or three months will be decisive in this war, mr. volodymyr, you have already said that each of the countries to which

we are appealing has its own needs and interests in national security and defense, according to you , where is the line when we say that you you should give us that , that, tanks, fighters, more weapons , the more the better, and the country should also take care of itself. stocks weapons are necessary and in sufficient quantity, where is this limit in diplomatic relations when people, representatives of different countries, are talking or , let's say, demanding something from representatives of another state? well, it seems to me that you know this limit, it depends on the specific situation at the front or on the fronts

. this is a wise and , most importantly, well-informed, well-informed person. he knows what he is talking about. before this, he recalled , for example, even a well-known historical article by general zaluzhnyi at the end of last fall , where he specifically named the number of numbers the revelation that we need and by the way, we actually now, er, this amount will already receive such messages, they are also necessary from time to time, because despite the fact that the development of western countries, of course , has a lot of information no less than us, but because no less, we, as direct participants in the side of this war, we know our officials know much better the needs that we have today, that's why this limit can

vary from time to time. well , it seems to me that at the moment it is possible well here is the only such conditional red line er in the number and types of weapons that can be provided to us is that there is still a fear er in at least some western capitals that the hostilities do not spill over into the territory of russia, but about this is in principle no one is talking about it, it is not even mentioned, no one is going to attack moscow there or capture some russian cities, it is about defense, but the fact that in this defense, the armed forces of ukraine have the right , well, at least to strike at those accumulated weapons or consultation of the military forces which are

not far from the russian-ukrainian border, actually russian territory well, it seems to me that no one is afraid anymore and we see from time to time what is happening there in the same belgorod or kursk chiryanska they say they have already covered crimea is the territory of ukraine no one is talking about this at all does not say well, well, well, you know, this is more of a discussion between interwar experts. i think that they understand better than others. it will pass, as i wanted to remind you that a not very announced meeting of our main military commanders, that is, the military commander and the general of the american military, and the entire collegium. i think that these issues were discussed there , so that we simply have to completely trust our military and political leadership, and its representatives know what messages and when to send them to our

partners well, the director of the cia flew to kyiv, this should also be noted because the meeting of the sleuth with milli on the territory of poland and the arrival of the chairman of the central intelligence agency of the united states of america are obviously obvious were aimed at finding out the plans and sharing information about the plans of the russian federation, which we are also talking about today and which the representatives of the ukrainian authorities are talking about publicly, meanwhile boris johnson, the former prime minister of great britain, flew to the united states of america, where he will lobby for the interests of ukraine he is meeting with republicans and wants to call on them to continue helping our country. this is reported by reuters. johnson has already had a conversation with the speaker of the house of representatives, kevin

mccarthy, in his office, and in the evening plans to speak at a private republican club part of the republican party as we know which recently gained control of the lower house of congress has repeatedly called for an end to military and other aid to ukraine let's see johnson in the united states of america i want to convey to washington that there is no reason to delay aid we must make sure that our ukrainian friends have received everything needed to expel the russians from the entire territory of ukraine as soon as possible so that it happens already this year 2023, this is the best approach for ukraine and in russia, johnson understands what he will talk about with the republicans and this person who recently appeared in the bbc documentary putin against the west, which

appeared on the screens just a few days ago, said that before russia's major offensive against ukraine , putin threatened and boris told him i don't want to hurt you, but with a missile it will only take a minute, then, uh, with a similar statement that the russians were leading the british by the nose , british defense minister ben wallace spoke, he talked about how on february 11, at a meeting with shoigu in moscow, i received false assurances from him that russia is not going to attack ukraine , well, that is, the british are now acting as lawyers for ukraine, such international lawyers , what does this mean, that is, the british still have a powerful influence on the international politics, although it is customary to say that

the united states of america is more powerful , although the british play a very significant role in this situation. am i wrong ? of course, great britain traditionally and historically has always played such a role a leading role er well, not only in europe in this world, i want to remind er here they told the map of the assembly by sam johnson er i met him when i worked in new york, he was then the minister of er foreign affairs of great britain even before that how did he become the prime minister of which countries, there was his public lecture, then in such a narrower circle we talked, or one of the participants in this conversation, he then said such a thing as i would, which struck me a little at first, and then i saw whether a few years as it was all implemented, it then expired in the opinion of that but then the process of brexit had just begun and everyone, of course, criticized