but at the same time, we are working to a prism of testimony based on corrupt individuals. >> a number of policy experts testified before congress on folder to hold congressional lawmakers accountable for their stock trades and sales. watch this state council city meeting tonight or online at video or name or cultured --. >> if it happens here, or here,

or here, or anywhere that matters, america is watching c-span, powered by cable. >> ukraine's ambassador to the u.s. talks about ways for country is preparing for the next russian offensive and what is still needed from the u.s. and other allies to fight the russian invaders. this is 30 minutes. >> hello everybody and mark -- welcome to washington post life. my name is greg million. -- greg miller and i am joined today by our ambassador of song and ambassador of ukraine, and ambassador to the united states. the role of the united states, nato, and its allies were playing or should be playing in this conflict.

because of these terrible events going forward. >> thank you very much. it is a pleasure. >> everybody in the of -- audience, we want to hear from you. you can send let's get started with the news of the day. the confirmation that ukrainian missiles had struck -- the russians -- sunk the russian fleet in the back -- the black sea and has sunk the vessel. what can you tell us about what happened with these events and what weapons were used and how you can achieve this? >> from what i can disclose at

this stage, a lot of information and details about every aspect of this war. just want to repeat what our president says often times. we will fight in the air, on the ground in the sea. it has been on a on mary opal -- mario pool -- mariupol. sometimes we do everything to destroy the enemies equipment. i am very glad it will not be

able to shoot at our citizens anymore. >> other ambassadors in that -- these are extraordinary, trying times. could i ask you to begin our conversation tonight by walking us through what your day is like. your day-to-day life as ambassador to the united states right now. when are you getting up in the morning, who are you in communications with? who are you meeting along u.s. officials? what is it like for you right now? >> when there is night here, there is a full day in kyiv.

it's since the beginning of this attack, i want to remind you the war started in 2014. this is that when russia attacked us. that is why we are also hurt. this very difficult time and loss of many people. 24/7 as any ukrainian defending our country. we are also soldiers. we are no different. i wake up pretty early trying to be at the embassy no later than 8:00, 830 and that is when the day starts.

sometimes very late, sometimes a bit early, sometimes monday does not in --. >> the changing complexion of the war, the success the ukrainian forces had in defending the capital city kyiv, all indications are that russian forces are turning their interests eased. i wonder if you could update us on that situation and tell us what to expect.

how might mayfair defending a different part of the country now? >> if we go back to february 24, you remember at the beginning, analysts predicted it is going to be a short war for russia. that didn't happen because it's the great president we have, the armed forces that defended fiercely at our country and every moment. two ordinary ukrainians who

fight with occupied territories and say no to russian invasion. when that doesn't happen, we had the first months of bombing and shelling from the north, east, south. we realize -- the wheels like taken north we saw the horror you -- horrible atrocities. it gives me special plane to talk about it. i talk about it as an ambassador but this is where my home is. so many personal stories -- it

is extremely dramatic but the operational. we draw the russians from the north in kyiv. on a daily basis, they keep attacking ukraine. the city of mariupol remains in circles. constantly attacked and constantly warned, if i start naming all the cities, all the villages that are under attack, the whole problem would be about discussing there.

we see that russians are regrouping and they are not prepared for this new bloody face of war. get more deadly weapons in order to try to create more victories. and try to occupy more of ukraine and kill more of our people. providers try to provide us with everything they can, as quickly as they can. at this stage of the war is going to be very difficult.

genocide. we have to defend our territory because it is existential. >> you touched on a very personal connection that you have two some of the more horrific scenes -- i wanted to refer our viewers to something you posted on your own twitter account a few days ago. you mentioned the cities booch. it could have been me on those streets, killed, mutilated,

rate, left a diet with hands tied behind my back. these are gruesome images the world has been forced to be held. can you talk about how these atrocities have also become the conversation you're having with biden administration, congress. >> i want to thank all the journalists -- international journals in ukraine. doing their duty to show the truth to the world. it is very important that everyone who believes in democracy and free press and truths has -- when people saw

it, it changed their perspective. it is one thing to hear about military defenses. especially when the russians arrived. they lied there was some random, the they lied it wasn't them. the same way they kept lying all three of those years that they are not going to attack us. at the same way they keep lying now. our friends and partners here in the united states all seated just like we see it. it is exactly what it is. it allows us to work better together. we are very grateful for all of

the support and investigation. and to also have countries that open their initial investigations. but also have the task force created here in the u.s.. having showing the truth and seen for what it is all these people now we can cooperate

better to every commander and every soldier and every financial institution financing russia and everyone who kept silent when this was --. >> i can see for the backdrop you have chosen tonight, this is something you want to keep in front of viewers and the public and keep reminding them of what is happening and what is transpiring in ukraine. can i ask two related questions though? if your government is going to call vladimir putin a war criminal and you have called for him and other russian leaders to face if we are negotiating,

realistically, how do you see that playing out? where and all of these -- >> ukraine, since 2014, even though we had all legal rights to return to our territory, we never planned any offenses. we worked day and night on diplomatic solutions on how we would restore. working through very -- and

return crimea back home. ukraine has very peaceful people and we are, as we used to say, peaceful bread growers. we really do not like to be at war with anyone. we just like to discuss everything in negotiations and the -- and find solution. as we saw in the video, some of these sanctions. 19 years ago -- 90 years ago the genocide done by hungary when the russians denied us. the russians still think it is a great leader.

a lot of people died so we see they are great. but we have to be peaceful but able to defend ourselves. from day one of this brutal aggression, our president said we are ready to negotiate. as soon russia was ready, we have sent a group of negotiators to try to go negotiate. to try to find a way how we can return to peace. to negotiate does not mean to this -- to surrender. continue to double down and destroy our city in eastern

ukraine.

it was russia that attacked ukraine, it was russia that violated our territorial integrity, it was russia affecting us now. -- attacking us now. the question is what is the world ready to do in order to help us to defend ukraine? we should not even be ably -- be discussing what concessions of land we should make. the question all of us have to get together and discuss what is it that we, all civilized nations will do in order to restore the world order, in order to show that your land and the international rule of law is enforced. 141 countries in the u.n. condemned russia's aggression. on march 16, -- essentially

telling russia to stop any type of military operations they and cease fire immediately. russia, as a member of the security council, has to do that. we see on the ground russia continues its war and it will become more and more brutal. i think the question is is it key for everyone else that an independent, peaceful country like ukraine can be attacked by a very large neighbor, a nuclear power, and there will be no consequences and nothing the whole world can do? the example i like to make, it may not be a very good one, but if somebody is attacked in the middle of the street by some

maniac and that maniac tries to kill a person, you would not ask that person if they are ready to give up a leg or arm to stop the attack. you would stop and punish the person who is attacking. this is what we have to discuss. in the meantime, there is no choice for us. we are under attack already and we will fight for every person and every inch of territory and that is very important. that is the reason our president is ready to negotiate and negotiated. he was elected as the president. for president zelenskyy, every life of every ukrainian is worth fighting for. >> thank you. let's pick up on something you said -- what is the world prepared to do to help ukraine defend its territory and life?

the united states, the biden administration just this past week announced a new package of many hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid to ukraine. i would guess this is the very center of your focus right now. can you talk about what is in that package? is it enough? what are the biggest gaps right now between what you think ukraine needs and what it is getting from the united states and its allies? >> thank you. great question. there are three priorities for my embassy or any embassy. number one is military support. all the weapons we can get, as we from the beginning said. we do not ask for any boots on the ground. we are very motivated, devoted

armed forces who are not only ready to defend for 61 days now and they are not getting tired and they are showing such bravery. under very difficult circumstances. we have lines of people who are signing up to be defenders. what we need help with is continued supply of firepower and everything else. this is what we work with with the department of defense, the department of state, and i have to say we need more because the enemy is so much bigger and so brutal and the enemy does not stop. but they are very grateful for all the support. i have to say the amount of detail and support we have from

the administration, from everyone in the united states, from every american is remarkable. the second priority is the sanctions. this is very important. as an important as the help with the weapons on the battlefield. russia has to be punished for what it does. but second, we believe sanctions, will be able to stop russia. there was a lot of effort and action that has been made by the united states in the sanction efforts in the embargo on oil and gas, providing effective export controls, but there is more we can do together.

all the sectors of sanctions, especially the industries that contribute to this war machine should be sanction. there should be personal sanctions. there are some already implemented, but they should be for everyone who makes the decision to continue this war and to commit and allow all these atrocities. and the third big part is all other kind of support. support for ukraine -- financial , humanitarian, energy support. again, i know we already have 13 million ukrainians who have had to flee from the war zone. many of them lost their houses, food, and loved ones. out of those 13 million, 3.6 are

already outside of ukraine, including women and children. more than 8 million who are idp's inside ukraine. russia is specifically targeting maternity homes and residential areas but also our companies. the infrastructure. the devastation that has been inflicted on ukraine is great. in order to sustain the effort, in order to continue fighting, we need all kinds of support. i know it is a lot to ask and we appreciate everyone, especially the united states, a strategic friend and ally for ukraine right now. but i think the majority of people here and in europe understand that this fight is

much bigger than just ukraine. this is a truly unfortunate, 1939 movement. and if we do not stop the russian machine while it is in ukraine, this could be one of the great wars which we almost in 1940 one, said never again. international rules to prevent something like this from happening again. >> this has been a fascinating conversation and i want to thank you for spending time with us, our viewers come our readers. helping us better understand this conflict and the challenges you face and we all face going forward. thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you very much. thank you for being the agent and the word of the light and truth. without truth be known to

everyone, it would be very difficult in this current world with all the disinformation and fake news to see what this is and it is important there are great people like your reporters doing this on a daily basis. thank you. >> i heartily agree with you there. it reminds me of a certain slogan -- democracy dies in darkness. i want to thank all of our viewers who have been with us for this important program. to check out upcoming interviews, head to washington live.com to sign up and register and stay on top of all of these news breaking elements at washington post.com. thank you very much. >> c-span has unfiltered coverage of the response to

russia's invasion of ukraine from white house officials to the pentagon, the state department as well as congress. have international perspectives from the united nations and statements from foreign leaders, all on the c-span networks, the c-span now free mobile app, and c-span.org/ukraine. our web resource page, where you can watch the latest on demand and follow tweets from journalist on the ground. go to c-span.org/ukraine. >> now available in the c-span shop, c-span's 2022 congressional directorate. go there to order a copy. this compact, spiral-bound book is your guide to the federal government with contact information for every member of congress, including bios and committee assignments and contact information for state governors and the biden administration cabinet. order your copy today. scan the code with