For use in ukraine, as we saw with putins state visit to beijing and the 64 increase in trade between russia and china after a fullscale invasion, they have each others backs. Experts note that after the start of russias fullscale war against ukraine, russias cooperation with china has grown rapidly. To what extent can putins recent visit to china be connected with decision regarding the potential provision of lethal weapons. Yes, therefore, we emphasize the word potential arms because western leaders, particularly during the recent visit of xi jinping, the chinese leader in europe, particularly in paris , emphasized to the chinese leader that they are asking, insisting that china should use its influence on russia in order to force russia to to force putin to stop the aggressive war and, of course , not to help russia with weapons in any way. China categorically rejects such speculation, but the fact that putin has been warmly received in beijing recently, the fact that xi jinping and putin are very emphatic that there are no limits to cooperation between the two countries, as they say. Has, and this cooperation also takes place, obviously, in the military sphere, so the concern that china from actual economic support and moral support, could theoretically, potentially move to direct support of russia in its aggressive war, obviously worries many in europe and not only in europe. Bohdan, thank you very much, contact us. Was our european correspondent, bohdan tsyuban. The 75th anniversary summit of nato leaders will be held on july 911, 2024 in washington. Ukraine may be in the center of attention of allies. On may 21, during the events of the Atlantic Council dedicated to the discussion of the upcoming summit of nato leaders, experts and former diplomats expressed hope that at this meeting the leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will offer a clear path to ukraines membership. The event was watched by my colleague maria ulyanovska, who joins our broadcast. Congratulations, maria. I congratulate you. Maria, what are the actual expectations of experts and former diplomats regarding this july summit . Oleksiy, previously the discourse regarding this july summit in washington was not very comforting for ukraine. So we talked earlier with john herbst, who is the senior director of the Eurasian Center of the Atlantic Council. He said that this will be a repeat of the summit in vilnius, that you should not expect any loud announcements, that there will be just some minor ones. Measures regarding the current cooperation between ukraine and nato. We also spoke with Atlantic Council expert melinda garinfena. She said that her expectations were zero, and that ukrainians should not have any expectations regarding this summit. During his visit to kyiv, anthony blinke, us secretary of state, said that the us will take tangible steps to strengthen natos role in building up Ukraines Armed forces. He did not say anything about inviting ukraine to nato, but said that such bilateral Security Agreements will be concluded between ukraine and others. We know that 32 countries are leading negotiations on this, nine agreements are already ready, he also said that the us will also sign such a Security Agreement with ukraine, and he also said that as soon as all the conditions are met and the allies agree, the invitation and accession of ukraine to the alliance will be easy. Yesterday at the event, the discourse of experts changed somewhat, the most influential experts on ukraine were there, former nato secretary general andresmussen was also there, and. And most importantly, what the experts said was that nato should establish a clear plan regarding ukraines membership in the alliance at this summit. So daniel frith, ex ambassador. Poland emphasized that the security structure as it was before will not exist, one can only move forward, and russia lost its chance to have a neutral ukraine a long time ago. Lets assume that this happens, and the russian offensive on kharkiv succeeds, it is quite possible. In such a case, nato must clearly and unambiguously, as was the case in vilnost, declare the final destination of ukraine to nato. And then add all the other elements. Memoranda of cooperation and a Cooperation Agreement with the us, which i expect will be signed in the fields nato summit. But they must be real. We must make it clear that ukraine cannot once again find itself in a gray zone. We ve been through this before, it doesnt work. I think that this time the administration understands that the only way out is not back, but forward. That is, we cannot return to a neutral ukraine of the 2013 model, or to ambiguity, as it was in 2021. It . What needs to happen, and then the details need to be filled in there needs to be a memorandum of understanding, there needs to be substance. There should be more arms flows, but the administration has changed its attitude since vilnius. Before vilnius, they did not want to talk about nato and ukraine and resented ukrainians who asked for it. Everything is different now. The opinions of experts regarding the invitation of ukraine to nato were also heard, they were more optimistic and rather called on the country. The alliance does not struggle with this, in particular, in my conversation with william taylor, he is the former Us Ambassador to ukraine, he said that he expects that there will be an invitation, if not at this summit, then already in the fall. We also spoke with the head of the Foreign Affairs committee of the Lithuanian Parliament zigimantas sovilonis, he is sure that as long as there is no final decision, he knows that it is not yet, ukraine can influence this decision, and for this ukraine should use all resources and lobby this issue as hard as possible. As james bond also said, never say never, you have to fight to the last, i was the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs, i was present at those nato summits, sometimes we made decisions at 60 in the morning, never give up, i dont think that ukraine used all your potential in this lobbying game, send yours parliamentarians, do it with your opposition, dont be afraid to show your differences, thats. What americans like when differences work together, when left and right work together. Visit every state, reach out to your Business Community and ask our Business Community because we did it for ourselves, nobody wanted us in nato. Maybe one senator mccain was with us then, maybe also senator durbin, who has lithuanian roots, but we worked very hard, we worked the constituencies every senator and every congressman. And this is what the embassy of ukraine should do and organize, because the achilles heel of america is its democracy, it is a very democratic nation, this country is really run by congress. So if you have senators on your side, and in the case of lithuania, in the end it was 99 senators out of 100, and if they vote in favor, everything will work. Maria, we have heard from experts the words clear path or plan for membership, what can these words mean. And what should be expected in ukraine . Indeed oleksiy, in particular andres vagrasmusyn said that what needs to be done is to extend an invitation to membership to ukraine and also set a planned date of entry no later than july 2028. In addition, former nato commander Wesley Clarke said that the plan needs to come up now, and it should include two options if the hostilities stop, if the hostilities dont stop, and dont expect an end. War in order for this plan to be developed, it must already be in place. Daniel frith also said, that the main task now is to stabilize the front. The next thing to do is to define this roadmap for this bridge that Antony Blinken talked about, and he said that this bridge should be made of steel, not paper. It should be short and actually lead to the other shore, where this nato membership will be. And for this, you need to make a memorandum of understanding, with clear steps, what will lead to this . Thank you, maria, we were contacted by a voice of america journalist. On the night of may 22, russia attacked Energy Infrastructure in the northeast of ukraine with drones. Energy and other Critical Infrastructure facilities have become russias main target in recent months. Since the beginning of this year, Russian Troops have conducted a massive attack on almost every hydroelectric power plant in ukraine, trying to completely withdraw it. Energy systems of ukraine is in trouble. The damage caused by the latest shelling of the dnipro egs in zaporizhzhya is still being calculated. What is the state of the hydropower system of ukraine, how long will it take to restore it and where from. Money for reconstruction of dniproges, our correspondents eva myronova and Oleksandr Oliynyk learned. The russians are targeting ukraines Energy Infrastructure, including hydroelectric power stations. From the 22nd to the 24th to the 29th of march, there were more than 80 missile strikes on the hydropower plant, that is, there is no station that was not exposed to missile attacks. The consequences are severe, the consequences. Difficult, for example, to rebuild this station to the design solution, well , it takes 2. 53 years to restore the station, and of course funds. At the dniprovska gs in zaporizhzhia, after the massive shelling on the 22nd in march, the engine room was significantly damaged. The damage has not yet been calculated, as workers continue to clear the rubble. Its terrifying because what we saw was barbaric. In this station were incarnated, incarnated. The latest technologies, the rebuilding, the reconstruction of the units was almost finished, and all this was put to nothing in one moment. The fact that, well, lets say, a new car hall needs to be built, well, we already see, we understand, because it is 80 destroyed, thats what we see, well, lets say, it is completely destroyed, part of it is there deformed, there are already led beams, walls, that is, all this is needed. Dismantle and build a new machine plant in a new way. It is impossible to speed up the demolition of the debris, the city often sounds an air alarm, explains serhiy konyk, an employee of the hes. It is scary, because we are ordinary people and we are also afraid when an alarm comes or sounds. The passageway of the station, which was hit by one of the russian missiles, was also significantly damaged. Hydroenergo emphasizes that even the repair of the road surface is logistical. It is difficult to make such a decision so that and the road must not be closed, because it is important for zaporizhzhia, and to do these repair works, so if we finish in deep autumn, it will be very good. It is not yet known how much the repair of the engine room and units of the power facility will cost. It is possible that the funds will have to be raised, among other things, by increasing electricity tariffs, says ukrhydroenergo. From what source from . Howl, well, there arent many options here, its the budget, its a tariff increase and a loan, thats all, so what kind of middle ground can we find here so that, lets say, all understood that this is necessary, we need to prepare for winter already, attacks on dams also affect Nuclear Power, for example, the kakhov dam, which the russians destroyed last year, significantly affected the condition of the occupied Zaporozhye Nuclear power plant, how it was cooled with the help of the kakhov reservoir, the Nuclear Power plant fed its cooling pond is from the kakhovsky reservoir, which is no longer there, there are some there, they announced that they drilled some artesian wells there, and there are not at all the replenishment volumes that are necessary for work, for example, in the normal mode of a Nuclear Power plant, when it generates Electrical Energy and , accordingly, it is necessary to divert heat energy, and although it is occupied by the russians for. Now it does not produce energy, in the summer the water in the pond cooler evaporates very quickly, so without a reservoir its level may drop to critical eva myronova, Oleksandr Oliynyk, for the voice of america, from the zaporizhzhia region. Today, David Bramlett works at the everyman foundation. He is engaged in medical evacuation and repatriation of dead and wounded foreign volunteers fighting in ukraine. In the american army, david was a special agent, he fought in iraq and afghanistan. Ah. But immediately after the fullscale invasion of russia, he volunteered for the ussr. He spent the year 2002 commanding a detachment in the foreign legion in kharkiv region, when his friend was seriously injured and was rescued by the Weatherman Foundation, where he started working with this foundation. Now he helps volunteers like him. He told his story to the military to my colleague kateryna lisanova. Tell us more about the foundation weatherman, how did this fund come about and what is its purpose . Weatherman Foundation Goes back to the roots of the fall of afghanistan, when the americans left the country after the fall of kabul and the terrible events at the local airport. The founder of our foundation was directly involved in the evacuation of many afghans, including girls from the National Football team. So, in a way, everything starts from there. Then, when the fullscale invasion began in february 2022, there was great disappointment. The way things turned out in afghanistan, so it was an opportunity to get together and do important work. The foundation employs a group of wonderful people, almost all of us are veterans, our president is a former paratrooper. Our director of operations, a former Green Beret Special agent, i myself am a former green beret, my colleague who is now in kyiv, he is a former naval signalman, we deeply believe in american and western values. How did you personally end up at the Weatherman Foundation . I spent 2022 fighting in the foreign legion in ukraine in kharkiv. In september of the same year, one of my comrades was wounded by shrapnel from. Got into his eye and brain. The foundation then helped and took him to poland for treatment. I was infinitely grateful for that, i started working with them already in january. I handed over the leadership of my unit in kharkiv and began to deal with the medical evacuation of soldiers. Now this is my main job. Since the summer of last year, we have evacuated 32 wounded fighters to lanshtul. This is a United StatesMilitary Hospital at the ramstein base. Almost half of them are americans, the second most numerous are canadians, they also took out a few britons. There was one a japanese citizen, one from south korea, from new zealand, from australia, brazil, and of course, ukrainians. We strongly believe in our mission. We also provide humanitarian aid and deal with the repatriation of those who died during hostilities, whether from rocket attacks or artillery. We are returning the remains to their families. We have already repatriated to the United States and. Its a really difficult job, theres a lot of investigation to be done. We, as private detectives, try to gather all the evidence, because boys often die in the dark or red zones, sometimes the remains are not found. So we create a case for each person so that when the remains are found, we can return them to their families. You also bring these volunteers and their families to washington to meet with legislators. Tell us how this idea came about. When i returned to the United States from the front, i noticed that the people who fought there, they were kind of isolated. Its not the same as coming back from iraq or afghanistan. Then i returned home with my comrades with whom i served in the same unit. And the army took care of me, if i was injured, or i had a hard time morally, psychologically. None of this happens when the boys return from ukraine. My work with the wounded and the families of the dead in ukraine. Talking to a lot of people who have returned to the United States showed that they all live in their own bubbles, so we wanted to bring these people together, first, to create a sense of support , just so they wouldnt feel so alone, and secondly, no one had ever brought a delegation of americans who served in ukraine and are combat veterans of the us army. Such a conversation was clearer, closer to the legislators, because here it is about. Americans who participated in the global war on terror, and then decided to serve again for the protection of democracy together with the armed forces of ukraine, fighting against the russians and their tyranny. When you meet with legislators, whats the main idea you re trying to get across . I think that the spirit and character of the war are not seen on the capital hill. I dont know how many congressmen have already visited ukraine, but maybe the total number is somewhere. And even those who were, are usually limited to kyiv, they cannot go to the front line. So we bring in the wounded and the families of the dead, and it gives them some context. It also arms the lawmakers themselves and gives them an opportunity to say, i talked to this soldier, this is an american soldier who served in the marines, our marines. He went to fight in ukraine, and this is what he saw. It gives a whole new meaning to the words we need more ammunition, we need more shells, we need more tanks, it gives them something emotional to latch on to that they can then build on when talking to other congressmen. We also try to communicate with those who are against aid to ukraine. I think that many people can be convinced. In general, work