[000:00:00;00] let's watch the program of the ukrainian voice of america service while there. i'm natalya leonov. congratulations to the united states. they congratulated the extension of the grain initiative, which allows the export of ukrainian grain through the ports of the black sea , this was announced by the deputy spokesman of the us department of state and dan patel. he added that the agreement contributes to the reduction of world food prices and grain, but the united states should not constantly remind russia about this, as secretary of state blinken previously said. we should not remind moscow every few weeks that it should fulfill its promises and stop using people's hunger as a weapon in the war against ukraine we should not remind russia to stop obstructing inspections so that grain can reach the vulnerable sections of the population who need it the world needs the black sea grain initiative moreover the world needs

russia to stop its illegal war against ukraine that would allow farmers to return to their fields, even if it costs russia and the oligarchs to return agricultural trade to normal and immediately significantly improve global food security should go to the reconstruction of ukraine, said the president of the european commission, ursula fondolyan, commenting on the decision of the council of europe to create an international register of damages caused by russia in ukraine during the war, and will pay the initial costs of a million euros for the creation of such a register, said von deryan and called this initiative an important step on the way to the future compensation mechanism . the decision was made during the day summit of the council of europe in reykjavík . are joining our studio from london right now, congratulations bohdane bohdane, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of a number of countries in the world, including the usa, they have frozen russian

assets, we are talking about both state and private assets, at the same time, there has still been no comprehensive solution or any generalized mechanism for of what to do next with this money, it has been achieved in the development of diluted damage, what is its essence and what opportunities does it open up for ukraine in terms of compensation for war losses, eh , this decision specifically is not a question of what to do or how to act with frozen assets or money that ukraine obviously hopes to receive in the form of reparations from russia for the damage caused during the russian war in ukraine . reykjavík was told that this is actually the first legally binding

international decision on the way to bringing russia to justice, and it is simply about creating a list or body that will compile a register of committed crimes, namely of the damage caused as well, for example, injuries or material damage suffered even by specific people, that is, it is about a specific list of crimes that actually caused damage, for which compensation will need to be used, in what form will it be, or will it be money from frozen assets that will be reparations from the state level, as they obviously hope for, when the war ends and russia, as it hopes for the international joint and suffers a defeat, it will already be obvious the next

future step, but about the legal the legal side of this case today, in particular, the president of latvia in reykjavik , serhii zaligr, emphasized this, first of all, it means that there is a legal recognition of the obligation of russia to compensate for damages, this is at the legal level, and then, of course, this is the basis for the next steps, further steps can be not only in the seizure of russian assets , a large part of which has already been frozen, but also in the transfer of these assets to ukraine for the reconstruction of ukraine, let's say, the basis of reparations - this will not cover all the losses because enormous damage has been caused but at least part of it i believe that we are creating for this bohdany 43 countries signed or promised to sign the agreement on the creation of the register, the 44th signed it by the eu, who abstained and why is it important that the number

of signatories be as large as possible, well actually if you look at the list of countries that joined the of this actually international agreement. so, for example, i don't see azerbaijan and armenia. also , hungary is not there. there is no serbia and turkey , obviously for various reasons. well, for example, we know that the government of hungary is now called one representatives of the orbán government often state that they consider international sanctions against russia to be a very big problem both for their country and in general , there are obviously their own issues with serbia, and there is also, let's say, a certain understanding of what kind of relations

serbia with russia serbia, for example, refused to introduce european sanctions against russia, despite the fact that serbia wants to be a member of the european union, etc. , but in fact, probably more than 40 countries that supported this agreement are more than enough in order for it to be effective, bohdane, another possible announcement that was made on the sidelines of the summit in iceland is an agreement between great britain and the netherlands to start working on creating a coalition to supply ukraine with f-16 fighter jets. earlier , great britain announced the start of training ukrainian pilots for 16 already in the summer. together with so we know that great britain does not have f16 in service bohdan , what does this agreement between the elephant and the rue mean in a practical plane, it

means in particular what, for example, the british specifically, already this summer, ukrainian pilots are starting to train on western, so to speak, models of aviation, but first of all, it is about what we can already see, that the governments of western countries concretely recognize that sooner or later, ukraine obviously hopes that sooner the western countries should provide ukraine with western-made fighter jets, that ukraine has the right to do so, this is recognized by everyone, especially in europe, even those countries that do not have f-16 e planes and say that they are focusing on other ways of helping, and today in germany, where was e british defense minister ben wallace, his german colleague, emphasized in particular that the key word when it comes

to f16 fighter jets in particular is the united states of america . all this will depend on the circumstances. we have not yet reached this point. we have not changed our position on this . we cannot play an active role in such a coalition or in such a union. since we do not have no opportunities for training, no ready fighters, and in the end it is in the hands of the white house, because they will decide whether f16 can be supplied at all and whether it is possible to undergo training on them, but all these decisions are not approved in berlin for your detailed explanations during the council of europe summit in iceland was monitored by our european correspondent bohdan tsyupan, a number of european states that have 16 are ready to transfer them to ukraine, but they are waiting for

a political decision from the united states as the manufacturer of these fighters, while the transfer could to happen quickly, but many of these countries have already begun to replace their f-16 fleet with, in particular , fighters such as the f-35 , the former commander of the royal mpps and the president of the air space forces association of great britain told maria pros about this in an interview with maria pros about fighters for the armed forces will not be a crossing of the red line, as was previously feared in the case of western tanks or long-range missiles, although the united states is the largest donor of military support for kyiv, great britain is the leader, because it was the first to start providing ukraine in particular has tanks and long-range missiles, however, the united kingdom does not have f16, how can london help here? i agree, f16 is where i give you the best chance to get a very

powerful platform that exists in sufficient quantities , relatively well understood and known, with a large number of spare parts, in great britain they are not available . otherwise i think we would have found a way to give you a little bit but what the uk can do i think that's where the so-called jet coalition comes from so it's for europe and america to work together to to create such a capability. so, if all the countries that want to do it can provide several 10-12 planes, it will very quickly increase to those 50 or 70 fighters that i think ukraine really needs to get them into the air quickly. i think because it is the f16 that is the key there is a us permit i think the advantage of the f16 is that it really has american support it has all the american logistical support most of the parts are made in america in terms of

training how can the uk help ukrainians and training, is it about the fact that ukrainians will be taught tactics or how to control western aircraft compared to the old soviet fighters, e.e. , apple? i think it can be done relatively quickly from 6 to 8 weeks is quite reasonable i think you already had pilots who had some experience and with the help of simulators today you can to significantly speed up this process i think what the uk is proposing the details have not yet been fully discussed publicly so we are talking about training younger less experienced pilots who in a year or two will be able to transfer to the f16 so literally these are those who have never

flown before to develop their skills in flying airplanes then teach them to fight planes and then finally teach them to fight on f-16 this process can last for years in peacetime it can be 3-4 years i think that in the current circumstances there is no reason why it can't be to do it faster and maybe in 1-2 years, we are talking about a long-term perspective so that ukraine has a group of pilots who go through the system so that in two, three or four years you have enough people who will go through the training system so that ukraine can maintain its air force when peace comes to ukraine, ukrainians defended their skies very skillfully . thus, defense minister shalun and dosin commented on the work of ukrainians and western air defense systems on the night of tuesday, while at the same time the need to provide

ukraine with fighter jets and indications of the strategy of confrontation between the usa and china, in addition to the minister of defense, the head of the us state department and antony blinken also reported at the hearing about these and other events on capitol hill stezhina my colleague kateryna lisanova, she is now on direct contact with us congratulations katya congratulations natalia katya the hearing primarily concerned strategies against china, nevertheless, the senators asked many questions about russia and ukraine, in particular , the legislators wanted to know how the biden administration evaluates the work of ukrainians with western air defense systems and whether they plan to eventually provide fighter jets, what they heard from the representatives of the government. that's how natalya emphasized during the legislator's hearings that confrontation with china is impossible without standing with russia and helping ukraine to win the war that russia unleashed, in particular, republican john gomez asked the minister of defense lloyd lostin whether the white house provides ukraine with weapons in order for it to win this war or simply be able to defend itself, the republican also asked whether there is

an urgent need to provide ukraine with fighter jets or whether ukraine can now operate, in particular, with anti-aircraft air defense the land, as well as the patriots, in turn, scold austin noted that the ukrainians demonstrated excellent operation of western air defense systems, at the same time , he does not see the urgency of providing fighter jets, and the gate very recently, you heard how we discussed the provision of air defense, this is what they needed most in the last few days, we saw that focusing on air defense was very, very useful for the ukrainians, the last flurry of attacks from russia was a good example , the ukrainians defended their skies very skillfully i i think that in the future we will see that the ukrainians will also begin to change the dynamics on the battlefield, what will be more useful for the ukrainians now, the air system, the ground and the patriots , or the planes, now the sky is just

deadly on both sides, every time any significant number of planes take to the sky, this or that the party is bound to beat them, so i think that this potential is in the process of development from the point of view of ukraine's capabilities, in turn, state secretary anthony blinken emphasized that providing any defense assistance to ukraine is impossible without preliminary training of the ukrainians on this aid, on this weaponry, as well as the establishment of logistics for the supply and repair of this aid, i propose to use it right now, weapons are a critical necessity, but training is no less important , because if the ukrainians do not know how to operate with the aid provided, their best defense systems will not help them with another need - this is maintenance, if the equipment breaks down in a week without proper maintenance, it will also not bring much

benefit. and of course, the tactic of uniting all of these different systems, the minister of defense and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff are focusing on these issues. this is, in my opinion, a winning strategy, and we want the ukrainians to be able to return their occupied lands. they also raised the issue of recognizing russia as a state sponsor of terrorism . how did the secretary of state explain the current situation? hesitation of the administration to take such a step , republican lindsey graham asked the secretary of state a question about recognizing russia as a sponsor of culturalism. he emphasized that one of the risks for china is the fact that i cannot provide defense assistance to russia and that if the united states of america recognized russia as a state and a sponsor of terrorism, this would automatically be a signal to china that providing any assistance to russia would automatically subject china to sanctions in turn . anthony blinken noted that the quote never never say never thus, he did not reject the possibility of recognizing russia as a state sponsor

of terrorism, at the same time he noted that, in his opinion , the current sanctions against russia are enough never recognize russia as a state sponsor terrorism right never say never never i'll tell you so china can see we're talking empty talk here if you're really worried that china might give russia weapons instead of calling the chinese talk please don't do it why don't you support all 100 american senators and pass laws that would say to china if you give the russians even one bullet we will impose insane sanctions on you can i comment please i think china has taken into account the unprecedented sanctions and export controls that we introduced against russia and so you think that you have restrained them in this way, you think that recognizing russia as a state sponsor of terrorism will not be a stronger signal to china not to help the russians i think that the powers

that we have already used have been very effective as far as ukraine is concerned i appreciate the bipartisan efforts of this committee, but i can tell you right now that if the department of defense does not provide the international criminal court with all the evidence it needs to prosecute the russians, then we let's send another signal that we, the united states, are only capable of empty talk when things get to bad actors . maybe you are satisfied with your activities, but i am not one of the pressing issues in the united states right now , the debt limit, how this situation can affect ukraine. i know what you say personally talked to american legislators about what they say. well, natalya, after yesterday 's meeting between biden and the leaders of the congress , the final decision on increasing the debt limit was never made, and to decide

this is as soon as possible in a short period of time and to make it to the deadline of june 1. biden even had to cancel a number of visits, in particular to australia. during this week and return to the united states earlier , it is possible that the question of increasing the bad limit is the question of further actions with the national debt of the united states, so in particular, the democrats propose to increase e taxes for large corporations, and the republicans will cut spending , and in particular, some republicans do not rule out the possibility that aid to ukraine may fall under these cuts at the same time as of now they say that such a question is not raised, but they note that when the question is about reducing costs, not a single possibility should be left unconsidered, and therefore in the country of providing aid to ukraine, it can be like this . i also thank katya for this detailed information . there are many events of congresses that concern ukraine.

they are watched by kateryna lisova, we are a start-up country with a thousand-year history , the well-known ukrainian marketer and entrepreneur andrii fedriv is convinced, according to him, ukrainian business does not want to leave ukraine, but wants smart diversification, which is what ukrainian companies are currently working on. fedoriv is convinced that because of the war, ukrainian business is becoming more and more international, he is opening new markets and raising the level of service in the eu. now he is an entrepreneur with his lectures , during which he tells how brands should learn from startups, and on the contrary, he travels to the usa and canada running a business during the war , the fight against corruption and the brand of ukraine, fedoriv told in new york in an interview with iryna solomko i really like the saying about what actually such a crisis situation should be achieved not from the point of view that we have a problem. but we have new opportunities. how do you think this is a war for ukrainian business? for ukrainian companies

, progressive capital is a point of opportunity . look, i don't like to say that war is an opportunity. i won't return there, i don't know there. well, i can't pronounce it, because war is a tragedy, it's pain, it's death, it's fear, it's horror, it 's destruction, and so on . yes, the war forced some businesses to look at it differently. on itself and overhaul its medium-term long-term strategy, yes, this is the effect that i think can be considered positive, although again it sounds very strange, yes, this is the forced internationalization of business, because everyone understands that the ukrainian consumer market

has unfortunately fallen, yes, everyone is talking about what no matter when the victory comes, the years after the victory will be difficult, this is not the years of relaxed champagne and so on . well, the struggle will continue. yes, and it will be even more difficult. of this situation and in the world, in fact, there are so many other problems in all 200 countries that it is possible that this help will come, but will it be so active or will it be so fast and so on, and that is why many companies, what i see , have started to build international strategies , understanding that just because they are in ukraine, they are in danger . i understand that it is very cynical to call the war an opportunity, but in principle, for ukraine , this window is now open, or could this be an impetus to throw out those

with those sour and bitter ones that you said out of a barrel because for this you need political will and what else i once interviewed yitzhak adiz and i asked him questions about corruption and so on and so on and he, well, how much of a person is he already not young he was 82 years old at the time he said if you try to solve this linear problem you will not succeed it is no longer curable yes box therefore all ways to solve these problems are radical so i think it is a combination of three things on the one hand political will on the other hand digital

technologies, when you switch, you take away the right to make a decision from a person, here you take away their influence, this is a matter of corruption when there is no personal opinion and the rules are the same for everyone and the algorithm is the same for everyone, that's why i think that this is the first will, the second is digitalization, when we understand that we should not get along old ministries and it is possible and simple well why do you throw away these cucumbers and build completely new systems and this is sometimes a radical step and people will say oh-oh-oh no no and where in other countries does this work maybe we should be the first in the world who is it should do a the third story is about responsibility, about strengthening responsibility, this is an extremely difficult task , i am sure that there is a demand for this in society. yes, but ukraine has to do it, i understand that there is only one way for ukraine, this liberalization, which is proven by the war, the level of self-organization of ukrainians is incredible due to the fact that the state for years not

30 years 100 years 300 years was relatively weak in combination with conditional germany people had to acquire about themselves and they learned my personal dream that all the volunteers all the people who went as volunteers who became officers it all has be entrepreneurs, politicians, entrepreneurs, of course, and politicians can't do anything, they won't change the rules you talked about. they also need value, they don't create value, the problem is that there must be people who create value, when we worked with the savings bank and considered small and medium-sized businesses , we lack about that there are a million 600 entrepreneurs in ukraine, there are plus or minus 500,000. and we need at least 2 million in order for it to move forward, and it is my hope that if people could learn to do fundraising for

a bronco, unite people, find communication and so on, to have some international partners and so on that they will never be a passive biomass and i see ukraine much more global but with an understanding of its own uniqueness, which is connected with this power of an individual person and the power of a person who organizes himself and then unites this global ukraine, where there are about 50-100 million people. if we talk about ukraine , how much has it changed because of the war ? for the brand of ukraine - this is a fantastic opportunity, because it is the characteristic of any healthy brand, the first indicator, paradoxical as it is, is

brandomerness, recognition, yes, recognition of ukraine , locations there more often than the flag, well, incredible , yes. that is, we are stop stop stop for the top yes, that is, i am probably the top 10 countries for sure yes and this is a second chance - it is an attitude with which characteristics ukraine is associated yes, now we can say that people treat ukraine with respect why because ukrainians are brave because they fight for freedom, they are strong yes that is, it is good the basis and then the question of what we will do with it next, but still, how has the war changed you personally? listen, well, i think i will understand it a little later. yes, because for now it absolutely continues for me. yes, this war and i am not

observing it from somewhere there yes that is, she destroyed many of my dreams there , she destroyed many business opportunities and she destroyed, in a certain sense, the childhood of my children. things we will reflect later, yes, now we must win download the voice of america mobile application, the application allows you to automatically bypass blocking thanks to the built-in vpn service, read the news, watch informational programs and videos, as well as listen to podcasts of the ukrainian voice of america service watched

the program of the ukrainian voice of america service time time also join our daily briefings at 6 p.m. kyiv time on youtube and facebook, where you can ask our presenters your questions live. thank you trust the ukrainian voice of america service, i am nataliya leonova, have a good night, we are looking for 17-year -old dmytro afonin, nothing is known about the fate of this boy for more than a year. i know that when the war started, the child was in mariupol, and for about a week, on march 2 of last year, dmytro afonin disappeared without a trace where he is now, no one knows, so i am asking everyone who sees me now to look carefully at the photo of the boys, remember this face dmytro looks like he is 17 years old, he is of medium build, he has light blond hair

hair and light eyes, if anyone has suddenly seen the boy or knows where he might be, do not delay and call us on the hotline of the magnolia child tracing service at the short number 116,000, calls from any mobile operator are free, or write to the chat bot of the child tracing service at telegram and ask for a few more minutes of your attention , i want to remind you that we are continuing the search for arina yatsyuk about the fate of whom nothing is known for more than a year, the photo of the missing girl was given to us by her great-aunt, who actually lost contact with her niece and told me a simply terrible story of her disappearance. arina herself is from kyiv , and when the war began, she was with her father, mother and younger sister in the village of severynivka, this is the buchan district of the kyiv region, and in the first days of the war it was more or less calm there, so the family decided to stay in villages and not to return to the capital , where rockets had already arrived and in early march, when the buchansk district was already