General there were very powerful design bureaus in ukraine. During what period did it not happen . During the 30yearold with a hook, yes . Ot. We were so peaceful that we gave the missiles to the russians, and we were strategic the bombers were given and the nukes were given to the russians, right . Ot. And headed our ministry of defense there and other ministries , russian citizens of russia, yes , well, how we cared, so we have, and in recent years , instead of intensifying production , yes, we did whatever we wanted, we built corvettes , which were then sunk with our own hands so that the enemy would not drown them, yes, near moored here, or they are resting somewhere in turkey on the docks or in britain, which they handed over to us. Well, somehow it was necessary to think about the urgent, and not about that means whoever has a longer hand chooses, so to speak, what to order from the ministry of defense, it may be necessary to focus on the modern armed forces, on the experience of at least the 14th and 15th years, when the russians with the help of drones , our artillery was fired with a mortar, a drone was raised that adjusted the artillery fire, we had nothing. In the 19th year, the first barikhtars appeared in us, well, let me repeat once again, as we cared, so we have, and the main question is whether this year ukraine will have f16 aircraft, the american during his visit to kyiv, republican senator Lynsey Graham expressed hope that ukraine will receive weapons this year, particularly f16 fighter jets. Lets hear what he said. Heres what i hope will happen in 2024. America has delivered the weapons that you desperately need in ukraine in a way that will be sustainable, that you will begin not only to hold territory, but also to put pressure on the russians within this year. That you will get takams to destroy that damned bridge that connects crimea with russia. I want 2024 to be a year of qualitative superiority ukrainian mr. Valery, this is what graham says about the fact that he wants ukraine to qualitatively surpass the ukrainian russian army, well , in particular, in missiles and airplanes. How many f16 planes are needed so that we at least have parity with the russians . Many, really many planes are needed, yes, but the main thing is not. Not in the number of planes, the main thing is in their weapons and radioelectronic equipment that will be installed on these planes, that is, so, lets say, Weapons Systems, well, navigational, navigational, say, nonnavigational systems, even Weapons Systems that these aircraft receive, that is, what radars will stand, which will be onboard . We need to see what kind of missiles we have to defend ourselves, so if they are effective and of the latest models, against which the russians are not capable of fighting, then fifty planes will be enough for us, if all of them, if, for example, the first batch of planes turns out to be outdated weapons and all these systems, no matter how many planes we have, we wont win anything in the air, we will be able to shoot down a little more, 10 more cruise missiles, and these will be all our achievements, that is, formally we can be given f16 aircraft, but they will not be so incomplete. Yes, that is, no, not fully packed to fight the russians, because the western leaders will be afraid that we can strike with these planes on the russian border or on critical objects on the territory of russia, could this be the case . No, we are not talking about that, so we are talking about airtoair weapons for air combat, there are no restrictions on these weapons from any rear western leaders, right . There are restrictions on assault weapons, air ground and land land that carries explosives, for example, we can fly to moscow with western scouts without any problems, but if it carries explosives on board, thats already it, and we are talking about airtoair weapons, if we get improved radars and longrange missiles there are 150 km, it will be one thing, then we will fight on an equal footing with the russians, even surpass them in the range of missiles, although we will be inferior in the range of radar stations, but if we get missiles with the range of old models with the range of 90 km, then we will be inferior to the russian planes in all parameters, and no matter how many of these f16s are given to us, well, they will radically improve the picture a little, a little somewhere we will be able to knock out the eyes of the carriers of the russian winged aircraft. Yes, if we plan operations against them very, very carefully, yes, very carefully, when there are no summer russian flying radars, when we know that there are no russian fighter jets nearby, there that will be waiting, yes, well, well, some this situation, better weapons, better result, and no, it does not depend on the number of planes, you understand, but it depends on quality, here quantity does not turn into quality, romanians. Media reports that romanian president Klaus Iohannis has agreed to train about 50 ukrainian pilots on the x16 fighter jet at the Training Center at the Fetesti Air Force base, and the New York Times already reports that ukraine may deploy f 16 already in july, but only a few units. Considering the fact that ukraine did not contract. Pilots who could be, lets say, retired, but who know how to fly f16, and this is a long procedure the training of ukrainian pilots, the english language is there, then these people were taken and are being taken abroad, to train on these f16 planes, according to your feelings, the west reluctantly gives us these planes, that is, could it be, could it be much faster than is there now well, of course there was such a practice , you know, there were, for example, during the second world war, china was in a similar situation when it was at war with japan, yes, china did not have its own military aircraft, it did not have pilots, they were trained by the United States , yes, yes , the United States in order to repel these barbaric bombing of chinese cities, they simply gave permission. To form a squadron of flying tigers on far from new fighters, there on tomahawk fighters, yes, which were at that time, well, not the newest, not the oldest, but also not the best of the available fighters, so they successfully fought american pilots, there was there are not many of them, there for the whole time, there are no more than a hundred of these pilots, although i simply do not remember the order, but i do not remember the exact number, but i remember the order. So they showed very good results, they beat japanese planes, they repulsed raids on chinese cities, it would be possible to propose, if there was the consent of western political leaders, to call for the formation of a foreign legion of pilots who would be willing to fight for us on f16 planes, then it would be possible immediately hand over these planes, of course , after Major Repairs, that is, after Major Repairs and improvements, but again it would be necessary to equip these planes with the most modern weapons and more or less modern equipment, yes, because western pilots are not suicidal either, they would first familiarize themselves with , what they are given, what weapons will be given to them, but then , of course, all this could have been accelerated, i really hope that these issues will be, well, at least there in the nearest. The coming months, but first we must still look at the experience of using the first received f16. Thank you, mr. Valery, for the conversation, it was valery. Romanenko, aviation expert, leading researcher of the state aviation museum. Friends, we work live on the espresso tv channel, as well as on our youtube and facebook platforms. For those who now watch us live there. Take part in our survey. Today we ask you this question does the United States of america recognize russia as a state sponsor of terrorism . Yes, no, everything is quite simple on youtube, either yes or no, write your comment if you have your personal opinion. And, if. Youre watching us on tv, pick up your smartphone or phone and vote if you think the United States of america should designate russia as a state sponsor of terrorism 0800211381 , no 0800211382, all calls to these numbers are available free, vote, at the end of the program we will sum up the results of this vote. Next , we will be in touch with volodymyr yelchenko, the representative of ukraine at the un in 201519. Years, former ambassador of ukraine to the United States of america. Mr. Volodymyr, i congratulate you, thank you for joining our broadcast. Good evening, thank you for the invitation. So, mr. Volodymyr, Volodymyr Putin won a pseudoelection for the fifth time, because these elections were held in violation of all the rules of international law, and rules and laws, and. There are great doubts about the legitimacy of putins election as president , but for 24 years with a short break, putin is the leader of russia, what could be the steps of the World Community after the socalled elections in russia, given that these pseudoelections took place in the occupied territories of ukraine. State, which means that ukrainians, or ukrainians were forced to vote for putin, or they tampered, on their behalf, rigged putins election. Of course, we would like to hope that these elections are not recognized, and in fact, that putin is not recognized as a legitimate leader or leader russian federation. But it is clear that this will not happen, nevertheless, i think that the positive thing is that in general the reaction to his next reelection, socalled, is quite restrained, we do not hear many congratulations to him , well, those countries that traditionally are considered allies of putin or russia , of course, they have congratulated or will continue to congratulate, but there was already a statement, for example , by the European Union, so and so very discreet, there is no mention of nonrecognition, but it says that, lets say, the election process or, as they say in the statement the electoral process, the electoral mechanisms, they do not meet the modern standards of democracy, this is already not bad, and what can tourism in the world do as a whole, i think that these are further steps for the further isolation of this country. And putin personally, well, actually, he has already been declared wanted by the International Criminal court, he is actually already a legally recognized war criminal, eh, although there has not been a trial yet, but i think that he will be sooner or later, if of course putin will live to this, and yes, i think that the isolation that already exists today, i think it will continue, and the fact that. The leaders of serious countries, well, first of all of our allies, countries of western democracy, they, unlike lets say, well, two years ago, there was the beginning of a largescale military aggression there, or before that, or even in the first months, they no longer want to even communicate with this person, well, except, as i said, some leaders of some countries who are traditional allies of this state, so i think that isolation will continue. For this, there are various international platforms, starting from the un and ending with all kinds of regional organizations, and it is not only nato , the European Union, it is also the council of europe, the osce, many other groups or groups of countries that, today, no longer want to communicate with putin yes, as if nothing is happening and everything is normal, even such associations as brics. Eh, which was marked by such, well , quite activity, even in the first year that russia can do that, today we hear little even about. Before the groups activities, i dont i am even talking about such organizations as the csto or the cis, where also, you know, not much is happening, because the leadership position of russia is already there, well, yes, lets put it this way, you can put an end to that, even the countries closest to russia, they are already they do not consider it possible to do business with him, as if nothing happened, but one person who thinks it is not. Necessary to do business with him, negotiate and conduct some negotiations, this is the president of turkey, recep tayyip erdogan, he congratulated, by the way , the russian dictator from victory in the pseudoelections and declared ankaras readiness to play a role in the peace talks regarding ukraine, i will quote that actually, according to the office of the president of turkey, president erdogan stated that he believes. That the positive course in turkishrussian relations will continue to strengthen in the new period, and expressed turkeys readiness to play any favorable role in returning to the negotiating table regarding ukraine, that is, erdogan made such a gesture towards putin, he recognized him that his reelected president , but at the same time, he says that everything he does is solely in his own interest. The World Community, and in particular ukraine and peace in ukraine, how would you characterize the behavior of the leader of a country that is part of the North Atlantic Alliance and, in principle, is one of the leaders of the world that does not recognize putin as president , but you know, turkey has its traditional interests , both in the region as a whole, which includes. Turkey and russia, and in decent relations with the russian federation, turkey is very economically dependent on russia, these are Energy Supplies and a huge trade turnover, i have for mutual trade, eh, and the turkish economy is going through not the best times now, and in fact erdogan hopes, eh, that at the expense of russia and russias dependence on turkey as well very seriously because there is mutual export and import very serious, this is what makes them such natural allies, but here it is not about politics, first of all, here we mean the economy, and what about such a special position of erdogan, it can also explain so that he traditionally from the very beginning of problems , lets say, or wars, to put it directly , he took the position of a kind of mediator, he, he does not want to get rid of this position, this role, and actually, he said about it in his statement, in which he congratulated putin, so i think this is a normal reaction, nothing else from him, we should not have expected, yes , for us, maybe it is not positive, but nevertheless, this is turkey, it has its own interests, our interest in all this is to preserve turkeys role as well as ours a reliable ally. That is, its relations with russia are its affairs, and the fact that turkey supports us, it has such a solid position on the same crimea, it has never recognized either the occupation or the annexation of crimea, turkey provides us, us, us with serious help, eh, even the same mediator roldogan, she has already repeatedly given positive results, this is the exchange of prisoners of war, and. And the zurnova agreement, and many other issues, and exchanges, that is, everything, all of this is in our favor, so i think relations with russia are turkeys business, we need to continue this course in order to further preserve such partnership, indeed, friendly, i would say, relations with turedchyna, it is our neighbor, it is our neighbor on the black sea, the situation in which has a very serious effect on the course of the war. And for world exports and for everything else, so we need to protect this partnership and alliance in every possible way. Well, by the way, one more president , or one leader of china, xi jinping, who actively communicates with putin and with the russians in general, he, according to the politician, is going to paris for negotiations with by french president Emmanuel Macron at the beginning of may. The sixtieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between paris and beijing will be celebrated there, but not only, as the politician writes, recently officials told the publication that. They are trying to convince europe to allow russia to sit at the table of future peace negotiations in switzerland, otherwise beijing will boycott such meetings , the publication writes. In addition, there are reports that putin will visit china in may 24 for talks with xi jinping, and this may become putins first foreign visit after the socalled pseudoelections. Elections in russia, how do you, mr. Volodymyr, assess these efforts by china to help russia get out of the situation Vladimir Putin has driven the country into . I dont think that this is about trying to help, this is about china wanting to confirm once again, once again, just as turkey in its interests in relations with the russian federation, so china its leadership in the world as a whole. And china was not very present in the region until recent years active, lets say in western and eastern europe, and today he is trying, well, not to regain this leadership, but to enter this region as a serious player, eh, we remember that the special representative of china, mr. Bihui has already visited twice, if not more, almost all the countries in the region that are involved in. Well, anyway , there is a chinese peace plan for the russianukrainian war, although it is difficult to call it a plan, but nevertheless, it is a proposal, it is also an attempt to play a certain intermediary role role, and as for the visit of the leader of china to france, i think that this visit is a response to macrons visit to beijing, which you know, they started to forget a little bit, and that was last year, it was. At the moment when Serious Problems began in the relations between the United States of america and china, and macron then also tried to play such a leadership role, well at least as a european country that wants to somehow normalize relations with china, and that with the fact that the sanctions that threatened china, so that they do not eh. Eh, lets say this, eh, negatively affected the trade between china and france and china and the European Union as a whole, so there are also interests there, and of course, there will be, there will be talk about, about our war, given macrons latest statements, uh, which were bold, which were 100 in our favor, i think its also, its good for the leader of china to hear all this. And from macron as well, and i understood that this chinese narrative about the involvement of russia in the future peace conference on ukraine, or some other forum peace, this is not the time, that is, there is, there is a clear position of our state, there should not be any russia at the negotiating table, at least at the first stages, we need to see how the process will go on, and how it will possibly change, well, im on that. I hope very much, to be honest, but if russias position will still change , it is completely inadequate today, and therefore neither we nor our other allies will sit at the same negotiating table, and only the allies simply have nothing to talk about, so this is all important for the leader of china to hear also from the french side, and maybe macron will sound certain signals on behalf. In the European Union as a whole, since it also wants to take over certain leadership positions, and in this it is grouped, and this is normal for us, because in the first place it concerns precisely the fight against russian aggression. Mr. Vladimir, the former president of the United States of america, donald trump, who is expected to become the next president of the United States of america, in an interview with fox news, evasively answered the question whether will he continue to help ukraine with weapons or not . Will allow putin to occupy part or all of ukraine if he is reelected president. Lets hear what trump said. I hope it wont come to that. That is still a long way off, nine months to the inauguration and seven months to the elections. In war and politics, this is eternity. If we had a real leader, putin would never have done this. Remember, he hasnt done that in four years. And there was no real threat that he would. If i were president , all these people would be alive, all these beautiful cities, ancient thousandyearold domes, golden domes. Culture cannot be replaced, mr. Volodymyr, how do you assess what trump says, that if he were the president , all this would not have happened . Well, you know, i wouldnt want to preemptively criticize trump for his position, especially since this time, unlike some of his previous statements, hes spoken so rather cautiously. And actually speaking, when he says that this would not have happened under him, well, he was the president for four years, was already in crimea donbas, and actually speaking, he, well, in a political sense, he, well, did not do anything so extraordinary to stop that conflict at that stage, although, we give credit to the fact that. It was during his presidency that ukraine received the First American weapons, this was before the beginning of the largescale war, but nevertheless it would have been under trump, well, i constantly repeat the thesis that i will declare a president ial candidate, and trump, by the way, is not even a candidate yet, well if we proceed from the fact that he will become a candidate and a statement. Already the president , these are, you know, completely different things, and, i believe , we have to wait, well, at least for the moment when, and if trump is officially nominated for the post of president , er, in the elections, and then, thats the period, lets say, those six months are conditional, between his nomination and the elections in november of this year, thats when we are, i think. We will be able to hear such substantive statements that are already valid, which will come close, at least to his position in the event that he, will still become the president of the United States of america. That is, you think that these statements will be much more weighted, in short . Yes, i think so, that is, you see, today this sword of damocles is not hanging over him. Well, it might not be the right way out, but you know, when a person is already confirmed and nominated as a candidate, uh, the degree of responsibility for any word he says will be much higher than now, now hes just scoring points in this campaign, which has not officially and formally started yet, and therefore i i say once again that it is necessary to wait for the moment when he will officially become the person who will run for the position of the president of the United States. Thank you, mr. Volodymyr. For talking to you, it was volodymyr yelchenko, diplomat, former ambassador of ukraine to the un and the United States of america. Friends, we are working live on the tv channel, as well as on our youtube and facebook platforms, during this broadcast we are conducting a poll and asking you the following does the United States of america recognize russia as a state sponsor of terrorism . Are there intermediate poll results on telecast . 50 on 50, you see, 50 believe that. Accept 50 that do not recognize such poll results on tv, and 15 minutes after the news release from our colleagues at the bbc, we will return to the studio, we will have a parliamentary studio, we will have oleksiy kucherenko, iryna friz and fediye rvenislavskyi as guests, stay on espresso, dont switch, the next will be interesting. The ukrainian Authorities Say that the russian offensive has been stopped, and that during the offensive, the sif managed to capture only two suburbs of donetsk. So, will the Russian Forces run out and what will happen next, well talk about it on. The next 15 minutes will be broadcast by the bbc, in the london studio of jafer umerov. Volodymyr zelenskyi recently stated in an interview with zmi in french now the military situation has significantly improved, compared to the previous three months, and the advance of the russian army has stopped. According to the spectators, the offensive stalled due to the fact that the armed forces inflicted significant losses on the enemy. The numerical losses of the russians were also mentioned at the meeting in ramstein. By the way, this is already the 20th time. Contact group on defense of ukraine