CURRENTTIME — broadcast
20260806 190000 UTC
307 transcript segments
Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking
Data courtesy of The GDELT Project (https://www.gdeltproject.org/), from the Internet Archive TV News Archive.
Machine transcription. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a verbatim quotation record.

[00:00:34] Riga bus station. Every day passenger buses depart from here,
[00:00:38] including to Russia and Belarus. The Latvian
[00:00:41] government plans to ban bus services to these
[00:00:44] countries. Politicians refer to the conclusions of law enforcement agencies that
[00:00:47] bus communication between Latvia and Russia and Belarus threatens
[00:00:51] national security. Passenger traffic between Latvia
[00:00:55] and Russia and Belarus is already minimized. Planes to these
[00:00:58] countries from Latvia are not allowed.
[00:01:10] not to travel to Russia and Belarus, which Latvia, after
[00:01:13] the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, officially considers
[00:01:17] aggressor countries. In the current geopolitical conditions, trips to Russia and Belarus
[00:01:20] are dangerous; on their territory, the special services of these countries, in order to obtain
[00:01:24] valuable information and compel cooperation, can
[00:01:27] use aggressive and illegal methods.
[00:02:30] don't go for business, they go, I don't know,
[00:02:33] until now the Latvian embassy comes and asks
[00:02:36] us to take a person who will have a visa opened at the border,
[00:02:40] and there are such people, because the embassy doesn't have time to open, for example, a close
[00:02:44] relative died, mother, father, someone else, and there are even
[00:02:47] such people, that is, people come to us with a special
[00:02:50] document from the Latvian embassy, we take them on the bus, because drivers
[00:02:54] must check visas, he doesn't have a visa, this visa is opened for him at the border,
[00:02:58] according to the Latvian Road Transport Directorate, currently
[00:03:02] 21 permits have been issued in Latvia for
[00:03:05] regular bus services to third countries, that is,
[00:03:08] outside the European Union. Here is the list: a significant part
[00:03:12] of the destinations are Ukrainian cities, Kyiv, Odesa, and
[00:03:16] others. Also, from Riga, you can go to Moscow and
[00:03:19] St. Petersburg, to Minsk with a transfer in Vilnius. In
[00:03:22] the Latvian Association of Carriers, they say that in fact, only direct routes
[00:03:26] can be banned. It's a different matter for flights with transfers.
[00:03:30] For example, a Latvian carrier takes you to the border, and on the other side
[00:03:33] a Russian or Belarusian bus is already waiting. If
[00:03:37] you don't close, don't block the border completely, right? Well, that is,
[00:03:41] completely closed for the crossing of any transport,
[00:03:44] pedestrians, there, well, they, they can close for cyclists there,
[00:03:48] they used to travel by bicycle before they closed it, they moved on mopeds there,
[00:03:52] yes, but then they closed it, because a lot of people
[00:03:55] were moving, well, there are two options, either you completely block the border
[00:03:59] entirely.
[00:06:13] Juliana has lived in Latvia her entire conscious life, graduated from
[00:06:17] school in Riga, studied at the University of Latvia, works,
[00:06:20] hosts an intellectual quiz. Recently,
[00:06:23] a friend sent Juliana a link to a story on Latvian television about
[00:06:27] a young man who, in addition to Latvian citizenship,
[00:06:31] also has Russian, because of which he may now be deprived
[00:06:34] of his Latvian passport. "Does this accidentally not concern you?" asked
[00:06:38] Juliana's friend.
[00:06:40] At that moment, I sat down and thought. Perhaps this really
[00:06:44] concerns me, all these years I haven't thought about it. Juliana also has
[00:06:47] dual citizenship, Latvian and Russian, she was born in
[00:06:51] Moscow, went to first grade there, and then, when she was 7
[00:06:55] years old, she and her family moved to Latvia, to the ethnic homeland
[00:06:58] of Juliana's mother. The girl has few memories of life in Russia,
[00:07:02] but several vivid images
[00:08:12] in full confidence that this would somehow be resolved someday, now
[00:08:16] when I think about it, it seems foolish to me. Why
[00:08:19] the situation in which Juliana finds herself threatens her with the loss of her Latvian
[00:08:23] passport. The current legislation in Latvia prohibits having
[00:08:26] dual citizenship for persons over 25 years old. The exception
[00:08:30] is the countries of the European Union, of which Latvia is a part, and
[00:08:33] a number of other countries. Russia and Belarus are not included in this list. In other
[00:08:37] words, when a person reaches adulthood, 18 years old,
[00:08:40] enters adult life, he has 7 years to, if he
[00:08:44] wants to retain Latvian citizenship, renounce
[00:08:47] his second Russian one. In practice, renouncing a Russian
[00:08:50] passport is not so simple, say those who go through this process.
[00:08:54] It is necessary to overcome a number of bureaucratic procedures
[00:08:58] that can drag on for years. In some cases,
[00:09:01] documents are needed that can only be obtained by physically
[00:09:04] traveling to Russia. Juliana says that this
[00:09:07] option does not suit her.
[00:09:10] I cannot risk going to Russia now, because I held
[00:09:14] events here in support of Ukraine, this is publicly
[00:09:17] available information, and although opinions about what Russia
[00:09:21] sees and what it doesn't see differ, no one
[00:09:24] wants to check it. According to official data, today in Latvia
[00:09:27] there are more than 4,000 people with
[00:09:30] dual citizenship of Latvia and Russia, most of them are under
[00:09:34] 25 years old, meaning they do not violate the law. The
[00:09:38] Latvian migration service provided us with statistics that
[00:09:41] indicate that the number of cases of deprivation of Latvian
[00:09:44] passport due to second Russian citizenship has increased
[00:09:48] in recent years, and in 2025
[00:09:51] compared to 2024, by more than three times. The
[00:09:55] Latvian parliament recognizes that a problem has emerged when a person
[00:09:58] wants to be a citizen of Latvia, but for objective reasons cannot
[00:10:02] fulfill the requirements of the law.
[00:10:05] I think we could achieve adding provisions to
[00:10:08] the Citizenship Law stating that if a person has started the process of renouncing
[00:10:13] their second citizenship, and for objective reasons this process continues, then the person
[00:10:17] retains Latvian citizenship, meaning they have
[00:10:20] Latvian citizenship and an active process of renouncing their second
[00:10:23] citizenship. At the same time, if they stop the renunciation process, then
[00:10:27] Latvian citizenship can indeed be revoked. If a person
[00:10:30] is nevertheless deprived of Latvian citizenship, they can apply
[00:10:34] for a Latvian residence permit or go through the naturalization process and
[00:10:38] re-obtain a Latvian passport, again, by renouncing
[00:10:41] their Russian one. It is possible to challenge the deprivation of citizenship in court,
[00:10:45] however, as lawyers note, the court in such cases more often
[00:10:48] sides with the state. For example, one can apply to the European Court
[00:10:51] of Human Rights, for instance, if a person is then threatened with
[00:10:55] expulsion, right? So the only thing is that the consequence
[00:10:58] of losing citizenship can be that a person is forced to lose
[00:11:02] some family or or kinship
[00:11:06] ties, but again, since this is mainly a matter of
[00:11:09] national competence, such cases exist, but often they do not reach
[00:11:13] international courts. Juliana is currently in a waiting
[00:11:17] mode; she has joined the queue for a visit to the Russian embassy to
[00:11:20] clarify the status of her Russian citizenship, awaiting a response from the
[00:11:23] Latvian migration office.
[00:11:57] The complete cessation of trade and economic ties with Russia and
[00:12:00] Belarus has been discussed by the Latvian government for not the first year since
[00:12:03] the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
[00:12:06] Latvia, like the neighboring Baltic countries,
[00:12:09] unequivocally condemned the attack, recognized Russia as an aggressor
[00:12:13] country, and Belarus as its accomplice. Latvia, Lithuania, and
[00:12:16] Estonia are consistently breaking ties with Russia at all levels. On the
[00:12:20] other hand, during 4 years of full-scale war, Latvia
[00:12:23] was recognized as a leader in the import of agricultural
[00:12:26] products from Russia, as well as a champion in
[00:12:30] supplying alcohol, particularly whiskey,
[00:12:32] to its eastern neighbor. One of the ruling Latvian parties,
[00:12:36] the Progressive Party, suggests, quote: "To stop the two-faced
[00:12:39] situation where European countries help Ukraine with one
[00:12:42] hand and pour money into the economy of aggressor
[00:12:46] countries with the other." This issue will not be solved by adopting one law
[00:12:50] and a complete ban. There must be a clear plan on how we will achieve
[00:12:53] this so that we can balance the political goal with
[00:12:56] economic consequences.
[00:12:59] Yes, this may have negative economic
[00:13:02] consequences, but in the short term. In the long
[00:13:05] term, I believe this will have positive economic
[00:13:09] consequences. Let's look at the statistics. Last
[00:13:11] year, in 2025, Latvia exported goods to Russia worth
[00:13:15] over 962 million euros. Almost half
[00:13:18] of this accounts for the already mentioned alcohol. This is data from the Central
[00:13:22] Statistical Bureau of Latvia. At the end of last year,
[00:13:25] Russia was in sixth place among Latvia's main export partners.
[00:13:29] Let's compare this with the figures before the war in 2021, when
[00:13:33] deliveries peaked. Latvia exported goods to Russia worth
[00:13:36] 1,197
[00:13:38] million euros, a total decrease of
[00:13:41] 19-20%.
[00:13:43] In fact, the Latvian government says, today we are talking about transit
[00:13:47] exports, that is, deliveries to Russia of goods from other countries
[00:13:50] through Latvia. In imports, that is, deliveries from Russia to
[00:13:54] Latvia.
[00:15:37] ore, a mineral that Russia can use
[00:15:41] in the arms industry and, accordingly, in the war against
[00:15:44] Ukraine. The ban was included in the fourteenth package of anti-Russian
[00:15:48] sanctions, adopted by EU countries in the summer of 2024.
[00:15:51] Prior to this, investigative journalists found that in 2023,
[00:15:55] Estonia and Latvia accounted for almost 90%
[00:15:58] of the transit of manganese ore shipped to
[00:16:01] Russia. And since the beginning of the full-scale war, the volumes of these
[00:16:03] supplies have grown exponentially. Manganese
[00:16:07] ore is just one example, says Estonian economist Ron
[00:16:10] Luivitsuk. This year, investigators found that
[00:16:14] an Irish plant, partially owned by Russian
[00:16:17] billionaire Oleg Deripaska, is suspected of supplying
[00:16:20] alumina to Russian factories that produce weapons for
[00:16:24] the war in Ukraine. An Estonian company
[00:16:27] may be involved in ensuring the logistics of these
[00:16:31] supplies. Formally,
[00:16:34] it is not a sanctioned product. This
[00:16:38] alumina, no one prohibits
[00:16:41] businesses from conducting this, well,
[00:16:44] carrying out such transactions, because indeed, the ship does not
[00:16:47] enter Estonian ports, it goes
[00:16:51] from Ireland to Russia, aluminum
[00:16:54] is used, among other things, in
[00:17:12] Another proposal by Latvian politicians is to publish an official list
[00:17:16] of local companies that continue to conduct business with
[00:17:20] Russia and Belarus. Earlier, in the first years of the full-scale war,
[00:17:23] the Latvian Ministry of Economy published such lists,
[00:17:26] but then abandoned this practice, considering that the lists did not
[00:17:30] fully reflect
[00:17:34] business.
[00:17:37] needs
[00:18:08] some raw materials from Russia and does not want to highlight it, there are
[00:18:11] many legal ways to do this: introduce an intermediary
[00:18:15] who will appear in all lists, but
[00:18:18] this will not reflect the real picture, or some
[00:18:21] enterprise hypothetically declares a cargo to
[00:18:24] Kazakhstan at customs, so there is no connection with exports to Russia and corresponding
[00:18:28] lists, but no one knows if this cargo is unloaded in Pskov.
[00:18:31] I will add the results of a survey published in the autumn
[00:18:35] of last year by the Norstat agency.
[00:18:38] position of Latvian residents on trade with
[00:18:41] Russia and Belarus. 36%
[00:18:44] supported a complete ban on business with Eastern neighbors,
[00:18:47] 46% opposed it.
[00:19:38] threat: there are criteria for launch,
[00:19:41] if they are violated, the launch will be canceled.
[00:19:45] Problems with hydrogen leakage occurred during the shuttle era,
[00:19:48] and we successfully resolved them. In the situation with Artemis and the SLS
[00:19:52] rocket, it's important to remember that this was actually the first time these
[00:19:55] systems interacted as a single
[00:19:58] whole.
[00:20:44] Russia and Iran. Do you think it's time to pass it and that the president
[00:20:48] may sign it soon?
[00:20:52] Absolutely, Putin is a bandit, what he has done to the Ukrainian people
[00:20:56] is disgusting, how many women, children, and grandmothers he has killed, and
[00:20:59] it is important for us to defend freedom, the people of Ukraine cannot but be
[00:21:03] admired. Last week I invited two Ukrainian
[00:21:06] commanders here to share with us developments in drone
[00:21:10] technology and combat. They truly cannot but be
[00:21:13] admired, but you know, if you support what Russia
[00:21:17] is doing, then you should be fought against.
[00:22:20] We live in dangerous times. We cannot, on the one hand, say, "Oh,
[00:22:23] Russia is a terrible place," and on the other hand, not hold it
[00:22:27] accountable. We are obliged to do this. And we need to do
[00:22:30] the same with communist China. We must stop buying anything
[00:22:34] from communist China. We are building up the military because we
[00:22:38] are concerned, but at the same time, we are not explaining to the American
[00:22:41] public that they should stop buying their goods. But
[00:22:45] the sanctions bill, in my opinion, is a step towards holding Putin
[00:22:48] accountable. I want Ukraine to win, and I want
[00:22:52] Russia to lose. Ukrainians are good, they are on the good
[00:22:56] side, and the government of Russia.
[00:23:10] It seems that the perception of the president, and indeed many
[00:23:13] in this building, of the value of Ukraine to the United States
[00:23:17] has changed.
[00:24:20] American resolve in terms of supporting Ukraine from
[00:24:23] the United States.
[00:24:27] Absolutely. I think Putin thought he could use Trump and
[00:24:31] the Europeans. And he did take advantage of the Europeans. But
[00:24:34] I think he underestimated Trump's commitment to freedom around the world.
[00:24:38] I think people were surprised by how President Trump is working to ensure
[00:24:42] Iran doesn't have nuclear weapons. I think they
[00:24:45] are surprised that he is trying to hold communist
[00:24:48] China accountable. I think they were surprised that he eliminated
[00:24:52] Maduro in Venezuela, so I think the world in general was
[00:24:55] surprised by how decisively Donald Trump champions
[00:24:59] freedom around the
[00:25:00] world.
[00:25:03] Do you think he, Putin, still believes he can outlast
[00:25:06] the United States and its allies, or can
[00:25:09] Congress prove him wrong? You said that we need to
[00:25:13] act quickly and pass this bill? I think
[00:25:16] many believe that they can survive and outlast, because...
[00:25:50] drones last week hosted Ukrainians.
[00:25:54] RFE/RL was the first to report that the US and Ukraine have already
[00:25:57] signed a preliminary agreement, but the main deal still needs to be
[00:26:01] signed. What, in your opinion, is the importance of Ukraine's contribution to the field
[00:26:04] of drones for
[00:26:05] the US?
[00:26:15] I think partly it's because Ukrainians are very creative in what
[00:26:18] they do, and they manage to create more and more sophisticated
[00:26:22] drone technologies, but perhaps even more impressive
[00:26:26] is the quality of their operators, the fact that they, with a very small group
[00:26:29] of people, destroy Russian troops. I spoke with one
[00:26:33] Ukrainian commander who, with 2,000 men, destroyed
[00:26:37] Russian equipment worth over 15 billion
[00:26:40] dollars. I spoke with another, who commands a very
[00:26:44] small part of the Ukrainian military budget, but who has destroyed
[00:26:47] about 30% of the Russian army, because they
[00:26:51] figured out how to do this very skillfully with autonomous
[00:26:54] weapons, excellent training, in essence,
[00:26:57] constant feedback, when those who use the technology
[00:27:01] constantly communicate with...
[00:27:32] that Ukraine would survive at all, let alone carry this
[00:27:36] war into Russia and against the Russian people, that is,
[00:27:39] for quite a long time, Russians had practically no
[00:27:42] inconveniences due to the war, now there are costs for the
[00:27:46] Russian economy and for Russians, and this happened
[00:27:49] because of what Ukrainians were able to achieve. The difference is
[00:27:53] that Ukrainians are not just killing Russians, they are destroying
[00:27:56] the Russian army, while Russia is trying to stop
[00:27:59] them by killing Ukrainian civilians.
[00:28:05] In this regard, Ukrainians are also concerned that Patriot production
[00:28:08] has been delayed. The President has made it clear that he is ready to provide Ukraine
[00:28:11] with a license, but then we heard mixed signals.
[00:28:15] Do you have any other information? When I
[00:28:18] talk to the White House, I hear that they are absolutely committed to Ukraine,
[00:28:22] so I am absolutely sure that they will provide Ukraine with the weapons
[00:28:25] it needs, when it needs
[00:28:28] them. You spoke about several countries, Iran, you
[00:28:32] spoke about North Korea, Russia, China, do
[00:28:35] you see any connection between
[00:28:37] them?
[00:28:39] Absolutely, there is definitely cooperation between them, they
[00:28:43] hate our way of life, they hate capitalism, they
[00:28:46] hate Judeo-Christian values, they want to
[00:28:49] destroy us, they want to control the world, they will
[00:28:53] act together to achieve this, they have already acted
[00:28:57] together to achieve this, we must understand that there is
[00:29:00] a significant threat to our freedom.
[00:29:33] I think that the Ukrainians, by their actions, have shown that corrupt dictatorships
[00:29:37] fail, and freedom wins. My last
[00:29:41] question on this: if you had a chance to send a message to Putin,
[00:29:44] what would it be
[00:29:46] today?
[00:29:51] I would tell Putin: you are a bandit, and you should
[00:29:54] go to hell for all the death and destruction you have
[00:29:58] caused to the Ukrainian people, and I will do everything in my power
[00:30:01] to...
[00:30:27] talked about unique places
[00:30:29] and unique people, but that was before.
[00:30:34] Since February 2022, everything changed due to
[00:30:38] the war. We are showing a new
[00:30:42] history of Ukraine, about
[00:30:44] an incredible spirit of resilience, about struggle, despite
[00:30:48] everything.
[00:30:53] Watch the joint project of Radio Svoboda and Current Time TV channel,
[00:30:57] what is actually happening in...