ambassador andres simone for transatlantic relations at the school of advanced international studies at johns hopkins who previously was the hungarian ambassador. next to him is mr. edward lucas, senior fellow and contributing editor at the center for european policy analysis. he's also a senior editor of "the economist." he's one of the foremost experts on russia and central and eastern europe having covered that region as a journalist for 25 years, also wrote in a number of good books. as well as other topics. next to him is brenda schaefer who is on sabbatical right now, currently a visiting researcher at georgetown university center for eurasian, russia and european studies. eastern mediterranean energy issues. and last but not least, we are very pleased to have with us edwa edward chaio, he has decades of senior level experiencing working on energy, in the energy industry and has advised the u.s. government, multinational corporations and financial institutions on energy and investment matters. he's widely respected by both sides of the aisle. we're pleased to welcome him back to this committee. thank you all for being here, mr. ambassador, let's start with you, tr