radek sikorski, in warsaw, welcome to hardtalk. hello. good to see you again, stephen. it s great to have you on the programme. let s begin with a simple thought. the portents for ukraine in its grim battle against vladimir putin s forces in ukraine, the portents are really very negative, are they not? the supply of weaponry and of money coming from kyiv supporters is drying up. how concerned are you? that s not quite right. i was in kyiv within days of my appointment in december. my prime minister, the former head of the european council, donald tusk, has just been there, and the ukrainians have achieved a victory that has not been noticed in the western press, namely that, against stiff russian opposition, they have cleared western black sea of russian ships and they have now resumed grain shipments, not under a deal, from odesa via the western black sea to the bosphorus and to africa and beyond. that s a considerable military success. that s not insignificant. and they als
all of that with these two there they are. one of germany s leading business groups tells me it s important that consumers start splashing the cash again and how problems abroad are hurting his members. also, the chairwoman of the german startup association, herself a successful entrepreneur, tells me why a different way of thinking is needed. and it s the younger generation that are going to deliver it. also, i catch up with the big boss of germany s most valuable company, the software giant sap, about why he s worried the rise of the far right could harm his country s economy, but he s still confident about the year ahead. wherever you rejoining me from around the world, once again, a big hello and a warm welcome to the show. you know, this week we re taking a look at germany. the world s fourth biggest economy is europe s number one and probably its most influential. but last year, even though it avoided a technical recession, it was the worst performing of the g7 group
a $54 billion aid package for ukraine has finally been approved after being held up for months because of objections from hungary. the deal comes as us military aid for ukraine the largest provider of military support for kyiv is being held up by congress. police are searching for a man who s believed to have thrown a corrosive substance at two young children and their mother in south london last night. they re searching for 35 year old abdul ezedi from newcastle he is thought to have significant burns to his face caused by the substance. we begin tonight as us officials say plans have been approved for a series of strikes against iranian personnel and facilities in iraq and syria but not in iran itself. they told cbs news that the action would be carried out over a number of days. washington has been preparing to hit back at iran backed militias after three us troops were killed in a drone strike injordan. here s our chief international correspondent lyse doucet. wha
near the syrian border, at a time and in a manner of its choosing. mr biden blamed the attack on radical iran backed militant groups operating in syria and iraq. tehran has denied any involvement in the attack in which three service personnel were killed and 3a injured. our world affairs correspondent paul adams has more. the americans say the attack happened at a base known as tower 22, right on the syrian jordanian border. it s one of many american bases across the region. there have been dozens of drone and missile attacks in recent months, but no american personnel have been killed until now. joe biden, seen here attending church, was quick to point the finger. we know it was carried out by radical iran backed militant groups operating in syria and iraq, he said. it s not necessarily a tipping point into uncontrolled escalation between the united states and iran, but it s another very dangerous step because, as i say, the us will have to respond even more strongly than
you think they will be able to get their money back? i think that apart get their money back? i think that apart from get their money back? i think that apart from the get their money back? i think that apart from the secure i that apart from the secure lender, this should be the one offshore creditors, but to be honest, we expect these bondholders can still on the recover approximately 2% to 3% in a liquidation scenario. currently, by also trading around one to 2 cents on the dollar. so at this point, we believe that the most valuable assets owned by ever grand are still the offshore ones, including the share of the publicly serviced division. so meanwhile, we think that it is virtually impossible to recover anything from its onshore assets. ~ ., anything from its onshore assets. ., ., anything from its onshore assets. ~ . ., , assets. what are the broader implications assets. what are the broader implications for assets. what are the broader implications for the -