this every new reality, perhaps with new yorkers, 1st enjoying the warm weather, but now beginning to ask themselves, will it ever snow this year? because this isn't normal. they probably don't even need to be wearing this jacket right now, because it's mid february and it's supposed to be cold, but it's not. ah, hello there, i'm this darzy at a and r. how with the top stories here on al jazeera votes are currently being counted in nigeria, and what's believe to be the tightest presidential election and decades. about gunfire and delays mod, the poll and africa's biggest democracy. salts were fired in the city of lagos in an attempt to steal a ballot box. there have also been technical faults with

a voting system. turned out there has been high. the election took place in the middle of an economic crisis and violence by armed groups in some parts of the country. and that address sent us this report from nigeria biggest to see a legacy of the only place where we have recorded incidents falls in the north east of the country. backward on fighters loved a grenade or a projectile near on electoral officer or electro office in the town of goes i and my degree one being about 5 people, although no person was reported did in that incident, similar incidents have been reported across the country and volatile areas where our was, it was expected, but incentives like this may happen, but generally officers are saying that the polls went on peacefully. well hurry matessa reports now on the voting delays in the city of new go and south east to nigeria. it was a long and frustrating day for many voters here in the southeast. somebody station

opened late and in the process was slow. those in managed to vote early. some of them are behind me. they say that they're not going to go home today to say wanted to the process to prevent what they call votes tampering. if it happens a lot of people's been many, many hours in the queue, it was mainly young people. and throughout the day, we saw people getting increasingly agitated. they complained that the voting machines when working, they complained that some of the election officials weren't as helpful as they should be. it's young people who say be once something done about his country. now, french president emanuel micron says he'll travel to china and just over a month to discuss the war in ukraine on friday, china released a piece proposal. beijing is calling for an end to western sanctions on russia and is urging moscow and keith to hold peace talks. moran says it's important for china to put pressure on russia to end the war and withdraw from ukraine. well, the bell russian president, alexander lucas shanker,

has also announced that he'll visit beijing in the coming days. belarus is one of russia's closest allies you recall last year. minsk allowed the kremlin to use its territory to launch attacks on ukraine. now russia has stopped delivering oil to poland via major pipeline. poland has been getting around 10 percent of its oil needs from russia also says it wants to end or russian oil imports, but was tied to an existing contract with the russian supplier. meanwhile, protests demanding an end to the ukraine will have taken place across europe. some demonstrates as even called on western nations to stop supplying weapons to cues. tens of thousands of israelis have again been protesting their against controversial plans to reform the judiciary. the government wants to enact along, allowing parliament to overturn supreme court decisions with a simple majority. protest as say it will undermine democracy. large crowds have been gathering every week for the past 2 months to show the opposition. on israeli

settlers have attacked palestinians and the village of berlin, which lie south of nablus and the occupied west bank. they set 2 cars on fire, israeli human rights group. yes. didn't says such as currently feel empowered by israel governing far right. coalition. people engineers here have been protesting their against what they say is an ongoing crackdown on government. critics. demonstrations come as several of the most prominent opposition. politicians have been detained, president said dissolved parliament in 2021 for install commentary on the adamant has won the balance on festivals, golden bare reward for the best film. the documentary is about a floating daycare center in paris for adults with the mental health issues. french filmmaker phillips r l one, the silver bass. best director for his film, the plough, its a drama about a family of papa tears. well, those are the headlines. i'll be back with more news for you here on al jazeera

after the bottom line to stay with us. ah, i am steve clements and i have a question. is there any way to end the war in ukraine? let's get to the bottom line. ah, exactly one year ago, all out war broke out between russia and ukraine at the cross of hundreds of thousands of lives. but it's a deceptive anniversary, because since ukraine's independence from soviet russia, more than 30 years ago, animosity had been rising between the 2 neighbors. and there's been a low level war going on since russia annex crimea. in 2014, the conflict is divided the world into 2 main camps. one of them is strongly anti russian, and the others more ambivalent for many leaders in the west,

including us president joe biden. the idea that borders and countries are sacred and no one should be allowed to erase them, is worth fighting for the rest of the world takes a more nuanced approach, citing hundreds of years of shared history between the 2 nations, ukraine and russia. but with total military victory for either side being highly unlikely, and no negotiations on the table. is there any way out of this war? how many more anniversaries of misery is the world going to mark and for ukraine and the west? what does victory even look like? today we're getting 2 views on the war and ukraine, one from moscow, and one from washington in a moment will be speaking with andre cartoon off director of the russian international affairs council. but we'll start with admiral john kirby coordinator for strategic communications at the national security council, and the white house who's just returned from poland, where he was with president biden. and were kirby, thank you so much for joining us today. my question to you after the president's comments in, in poland, is our americans hearing what our stakes are in this conflict in crisis?

i believe they are, and of course, that was the main purpose of the president. going to keep this week as well as to poland and delivering a major address there in warsaw to make plain to the world, certainly to the american people. but, but to the whole world. what's at stake here with the war going on in ukraine and particularly going forward now there's been an incredible unity in support for ukraine over the last year. sadly, it's been a year and now we're heading into our 2nd year. hope it won't last much longer, but we've got to stay resolve. we have to stay united and the president wanted to make that case directly to people all around the world. admiral at house foreign affairs committee chairman michael mccall is asking for the administration to do more to give more lethal weapons to give longer range missiles to, to, to amp off. essentially, our military support and aside their other republican say, do far, far less. in fact, do nothing that what we invest in ukraine is

a distraction from needs in america, adding to the debt, etc. i guess my question is, what's your directional course in dealing with republicans on this conflict? i think i make a couple of points. first is that we have really had continued by cameras and bipartisan support for the kind of things, the kinds of things that we are trying to do for you create in it's we all get wrapped up in the weapons in the systems, but it's, it's, it's beyond that it's also the humanitarian assistance to financial assistance. and when you talk to the, the new house leadership, you'll hear pretty consistently from them like german mccall. you mentioned. speaker mccarthy that they recognize the stakes here and they want to continue to support ukraine. so we're not taking that for granted, of course, but the number of republicans who are in the opposite camp are small and they are not in the, in the, in the key leadership positions. we're going to continue to work with congress going forward. we'll have enough resources to get us through much of this fiscal year through 2023. and if we need to go back to congress for more,

hopefully we won't, hopefully it will be over. but if we have to, we'll do that and we can do that with a confidence that again, leadership on both sides of the l are very supportive of this number 2. and this is not unimportant as we recognize that there are even there are american citizens who are like, likewise asking many of these questions about continued support for ukraine. and i would say that most americans understand the idea of independence. it's a founding ideal here. it's something near and dear to all our heart, our hearts. and it's important to remember that that's what ukraine is fighting for . it's very independence. mr. brewton is not backed off as strategic goals of subsuming ukraine into russia. he still wants ukraine is another province. so it's fighting for the very idea of independence, something that all americans can understand. and number 2, if we've waiver, if we flag, if mr. poot and succeeds, we don't know what he'll go after next. and the cost in blood and treasure through

the united states, as well as to our allies and partners, could be exorbitantly much higher than what it has been in terms of the resources we've applied to help you create over the course of this year. me ask you a question and i'm not entirely comfortable with, but you know, we have a lot of folks that are defining this conflict as not just about ukraine. it's about the future of the norms between nations there, imbuing it with lots of sort of larger order questions. i guess my question is, if so much is at stake, why do we fear so much escalating it if the stakes are that high? because i think we could all understand steve as bad as this war has been for the people of ukraine and for cranes, cities and towns their children. that if it escalates and becomes what mr. prudent has claimed it has been falsely since the beginning, a war between the united states and russia, or the western verses russia, or nato versus russia. if it escalates to that level, it's not only going to be much worse for the people of ukraine than it already has

been. it will be much worse for the european continent, our allies and partners potentially the world. it is important that we do not speak a conflict with russia, and we don't buy into propaganda that we're already at that level. because again, i think we can all understand that. the stakes of that kind of conflict would be just exorbitantly worse for again, people of ukraine are our partners and the american people. from your perspective, what are the requirements for an off ramp or an end game in this? i know you've basically said in the past that vladimir putin could end this tomorrow by pulling the military out, going home and end of story. but on a realistic basis, is there an end game or something that we might be looking for as we move forward to this next year, where there's something other than a sent another never ending war? we all want this word and as you rightly said, we should get in today and we do the right thing. clearly. stevie shows no signs of, of being willing to do that. and so president gorski has put forth a,

a 10 point proposal and he is called for a just peace. we are working with his team to see how that proposal can be operate, analyzed. and there's still a lot of work being done there. but for negotiations to occur, both sides have to be willing to do it and both sides have to be willing to do it in good faith. president zalinski has rightly said at this time, he can't see himself getting to the table given what mister prudent continues to do inside his country. and for mister prudence park, he obviously is interested in any kind of end right now or negotiated solution as he continues to bomb ukrainian. cities knock out the heat, turn off the power, try to brutalize ukrainian. people steal their young children and bring them off to camps inside russia. and of course, continue to prepare for what looks to be more offensive operations in the spring. so unfortunately, sadly that the environment is just not conducive right now to a negotiated settlement. what we want to do stephen is, as you've heard the president say this, we want to help ukraine's forces succeed on the battlefield to continue the success

that they have seen in the last year. so that if and when president, when ski is ready to sit down with president putin, he can do so with the wind at his back. he can do so with it from a position of strength because that's what he's going to need to carry those negotiations forward. to some, to some level of success. you know, i've talked to many of your colleagues john about who've had meticulous attention on china and what it's doing or not doing. and over this last year, i guess a good story is that the u. s. is assess that china has not been a back stop or in key technologies in military provision for russia, but there is now concerned that it might go over that line. do you worry that china, that we have intelligence that is now seeing a shift in the chinese, russian, i guess, partnership or relationship in a way where we will soon be real adversaries to both of them tied together? is that a concern of yours? it is, we want china to join the rest of the international community and condemning this

invasion and not, and holding mr. newton accountable, and certainly not doing anything that allows his military to be able to continue to prosecute this war against the ukrainian people. now we have not seen them devote lethal assistance to the russian military, but we have seen some warring indications that they might be considering that sort of move. and i think we can all agree and all understand that, that, that is not only not going to be good for the cranium. people if russia can gain more legal assistance from china. but it could actually make this, it could escalate the conflict beyond what it already is and nobody wants to see that. so we said that we've seen these indications. we'll see and watch what china decides to do. but it is concerning to us that, that the china continues to this, to appear to deepen this relationship with, with russia at a time when russia should be made even more of a price than it already is. when mr. put and should be held to account. and when his and where his troops should not be inside ukraine fighting again against the

cranium people. so we're, we're, we're certainly worried about what we see on the diplomatic front between china and russia. right now, i know this is, it is an odd question, but i guess my question is, are we doing enough? you've met presidents lensky now, number of times you, you've been on the ground there. you've been with president in poland. what is missing? that can help give the lensky more tools than he has the day? well, president sky has been unabashed, as you know, stephen asking for additional resources and certainly having them show faster and we are working as hard as we can and lock step with him in his military to give him a more advanced capabilities. so that so that he can again, continue to succeed on the battlefield and, and that's support has evolved as the war is evil. when the tanks were starting to roll towards key, everybody was talking about the need for stingers, and javelin anti tank missiles and, and of course we, we raised those to the front so that ukraine could win the battle of chief. then in

the spring, when mister bruton decided he was going to concentrate on in the don boston in the south and he pulled his troops out of key and car keys and elsewhere. it really became an issue at long range fires artillery. and these vaunted high mars the advance rocket systems that we provided to give the ukrainian cranium military. the ability to strike deep behind russian lines inside ukraine than air defense, obviously rose to the floor as mister shift attack and tactics yet again, and started raining down. cruise missiles on civilian infrastructure and we're, we're now we're going to get them a patriot battery and there'd be more air defense capabilities coming forward here . this week. you heard the president talk about that in poland yesterday. and now of course, we're waiting now since a waiting. that's not a good word. we are watching as russia prepares for what will likely be offensive operations in the spring. and so we are taking advantage of that time to train ukrainian battalions outside the country on what we call combined arms maneuver. so

this is opened by fighting an open train using armor artillery infantry all integrated with air defense to help you cranium units make their own offensive operations possible. come spring. so we are not only evolving with the fight as it evolved. we're trying to get ahead of where we think things are going to be in the weeks and months ahead. again, all designed to help the korean army succeed on the, on the battle. or admiral john kirby spokesman for the us national security council . really appreciate you joining us today. thank you. thank you, steve. and now we turned to moscow, where were talking with andre cartoon off director general of the russian international affairs council. from your perspective in moscow. what is the topography of the g, a strategic consequences of this war look like from your perspective a year into it? i think if i were to limit myself to just one or describe the preliminary results of that,

i would say the rug would be all decided to demonstrate that secular resilience and their ability to sustain the initial position is to call you de reached out to do better boston medical needs just to resist their actions. it came up like the rational because the rational system did not in load. it does not collapse. the political operation did not take over the student control. it is related to the work that we also demonstrate local, pre built in, in making and pressure on ration. and finally, we can talk about the resilience or thereafter. and then after you had a demo with the side, you know the carpet and to consider this conference to be at the local, out of the us mantic problem. what you've just described are conditions that can

simmer for a lot longer. you've kind of talked about all the different parties, no one necessarily getting a knockout blow in this continuing. i'm sure you heard, as i did many speeches at the munich munich security conference, saying that what's at stake in this conflict is essentially, you know, the, the norms of the liberal order in the world. you know, the, the fate of democracy, you know, endowing this conflict with lots of other issues, from russia's perspective. and i'm not expecting you to be russia, but from russian's perspective. what are the stakes involved? that we ought to be listening to? well, the narrative, and i think it was a 2 day is that it is a special challenge to russia as a concert. not will you agree with the cool, cool collector. and the collector allegedly committed to

destroying are 2 are all the metal rules. that's why it is so difficult to look for compromise. it is so difficult to live or because the concept is perceived as existential as something are, we should be directly connected to the future, russia. evelyn independent country as a society, if you wish, as a civilization are we basically in, you know, the draft of history seeing the influence of both russia and the united states go through serious transformation. and we may be as unaware of it as moscow may be, as unaware of it for sure that we will see a confirmation or in the united states just to look at our house. our 2 countries are in their seventies.

this generation will not stay power forever. and i will be some very significant generational change. i think that maybe in a couple of years ago, new people in all different perceptions or the rules or their countries are all in the rules of the sides. we should also keep in mind that other countries are getting stronger. other countries are getting more active. other countries want to become active in the, the national system and there is no way our actual, the united states or anyone else can stop it. so the roll will be very different in a couple of years for what we see, you know, and maybe the, all the silver lining in this very dark cloudy atmosphere that we have today is this crisis might become

a catalyst. what changes we overdue changes which are bethany got to be sure have been delayed or for quite a time. i think that we procrastinate. it all and maybe now it's time to speed up is beijing thrilled with this moment? are they seeing, you know, their fortunes rise as we have this proxy conflict with ukraine in ukraine? her, it's hard to tell, but i think the 1st of all, they believe that time is political, their site. it will start, china will get stronger. it will get a moment later in the international system. they do not want to use the night states or what is really important for them. but at the same time, do not want to walk the united states to activity. so i think that the chinese

position will be, let's wait and see how the conflict are was and then we can probably try to participate in working on it. but what do you think would be on the laundry list of items that russian leaders would need to see to begin taking a different track, or what kind of green we will see in the future. i think that would define the total ambitions of the russian federation. it's one of the if you claim states neutral are you are, you know, or i should get some security guarantees. it's, you know, it's very different picture. you are deeply engaged with the nato alliance or explicitly interaction. and then i think

a walker's or something like that. what is hard to tell? i think a lot will depend on the situation of the battle field. you know, one of the questions i have is the tension between a global war and people in oklahoma saying, hey, our schools are crumbling. why are we spending tax dollars on the conflicts so far away and not understanding that global stability matters. them at home. and this is classically, we've seen through human history, at least in the modern era, what drives and fuels populace movements. we've seen this frustration between the domestic and the international really come into conflict. and i'm, i'm interested in whether that's part of the calculation here that, that the west from your perspective and you know, us very well whether our resolve is shaky and wobbly in this conflict. because there are other choices this societies want to make. it might be one of

the year considerations in moscow. indeed, we all know that in the work of the attention span, the general public are, is limited. you know, who knows what happens to be night states after the election. so 2024. we know what happens in europe, so there might be some expectations that the weapon confusion is not the teaching but tactical to be replaced by somebody within particular states like the united states or between states like between the 2 sides of the ocean. so there might be, are some expectations that are actually now cannot wait

here and observe the left of the unit here together the arrow that on the other hand, i think that a national city source is limited limitless. either our options might be resilient, but definitely it cannot sustain worried when our lease will last rayleigh. so i would say that there are significant, reeks on both sides regarding the ability to sustain the complex for an extended period of time. right now i would not know what site more resilience and mortgage is all and how this is all will be sustained. i just be interested as someone who studied the united states so much. what blind spot, if any, do you see in america's leadership in calculus right now? the balance of power in the rule could change so dramatically since the beginning

of this century. it is literally impossible to restore the unit. so i can all the nice little little before and we are on the limitations, not only of the opportunities you know, but also of the strategic limitations which exist in the world. it doesn't mean that every night state will necessarily get weaker, but it means that all the countries. ready get stronger and they will try to get there. they are sheer decision making power in the role. so i hope that the united states will do its best practice to multilateral is are working both with the partners and with its opponent. and i also believe that the united states might direct, consider, you know,

it might be rather signified approach the rule, the why didn't the rule into good democracy is a better focus is. the rule does not so black and white. there are many shades amended college to the rules that we checked out to be taken into account. with that we will finish great discussion. i always learned from you director general of the russian international affairs council, andre cartoon r. thank you so much for joining us today. so what's the bottom line, whether both sides finally decide to sit down at the negotiating table and make tough compromises or not? here are the 2 things to keep your eyes on this year. one more and more folks in the western world will wonder why their schools are crumbling and life is becoming more expensive as their tax money funds. this war, their worries may lead to more populism and test the resolve of the west to keep up it's financial support, which is crucial for keeping ukraine afloat. and to more and more folks in the rest

of the world may wonder why this far away war even matters to them. many nations like india and china and others haven't drawn lines of right and wrong in this conflict. and may resist american pressure to isolate and punish russia. as the world divides between 2 big camps on ukraine, the risk to global stability and international economic growth could be staggering . there's just no sugar coating it. this is going to be a tough, flawed, and that's the bottom line. ah o l g 0, i with channel. oh,

ah. lou. hello there, i miss darcy. it a and her heart with an update for you here are now to sierra votes are being counted in nigeria and what's believed to be the tightest presidential election in decades of but gotten fire and delays mark the pole in africa is biggest democracy, shots were fired there in the city of lagos and an.