some breaking news: president donald trump has said he's been speaking directly with the north korean leader kim jong—un. donald trump and shinzo abe are holding high level direct talks with north korea as they set up a meeting with kim jong—un later this year. the reports come as president trump and japan's shinzo abe are meeting in florida to discuss an upcoming meeting with the north korean leader. syria says international inspectors have been allowed into douma 11 days after an alleged chemical attack there. but the united states says inspectors are still being kept away from the site. and this story is trending on bbc.com. british pop starjessiej has won a talent competition in china, which pitches professional singers against each other. jessiej won with 48 percent of the vote. that's all from me now. stay with bbc world news. now on bbc news, it's time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk from moscow. i'm stephen sackur.

over the past few days, the world has viewed with alarm the very real possibility of a direct military confrontation between the us and russia. the focus of the tensions has been syria, of course, where missiles have been fired, but the hostility runs much deeper. we've seen diplomatic expulsions, sanctions and talk of a dangerous new cold war. well, my guest today, in an exclusive interview, is russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov. what is russia's next move? sergey lavrov, welcome to hardtalk.

the world was deeply alarmed last week by the prospect of a direct military confrontation between the united states and russia. how close do you believe we came to that? i don't think that it was very close. i believe it was a situation created by very reckless behaviour of our western colleagues, who accused the syrian government and thus as allies of the syrian government, in applying chemical weapons against civilians. without waiting for the opcw to inspect the place. actually, at the moment when opcw was physically ready to move from lebanon to syria, they executed the strikes. as the representatives of our military explained, the channel has been engaged all the time. so to be clear about that

without using jargon, the us and allied forces gave you indications of how the strikes were to be carried out, and you gave them some indication that you would not retaliate. i'd prefer not to get into the nitty—gritty of this military—to—military channels. there is a channel existing between the russian and the united states military. both between the capitals and on the ground in syria. and i believe the military discussed and continue to discuss this and other things very professionally. they understand each other, and they understand maybe better than anyone else the danger of this kind of adventure. but mr lavrov, this crisis is not over, is it? it depends on those who invented the crisis. well, it's quite clear from words used by your own diplomats, your ambassador to the united states said there would be consequences for the strikes that we saw.

vladimir putin called it an illegal act of aggression. the world wants to know what's russia going to do now? that's a statement of fact and consequences certainly, there would be consequences. we lose basically the last remnants of trust to our western friends, who prefer to berate and debase us with very weird logic. proof is in the punishment. they've punished first, like they did in salisbury. then they wait for scotland yard to finalise the investigation. they've punished first in douma, in syria, and then they wait for the inspectors for the opcw to visit the place and to inspect. i mean proof by the punishment is what is being deployed by the troika of western countries. well, i want to talk to you of the detail of the cases

you mentioned in douma and the skripal case as well. but before i get there, ijust wanted to continue the idea of the diplomatic relationship today. now, the us ambassador to the united nations, nikki haley, said us forces remain locked and loaded. when you hear that kind of language, how do you respond? well, i think that they have to put their own house together in washington. because we understand this kind of statements could be made either by the commander—in—chief or by the military. and, as i said, the military of the united states and of the russian federation maintain the deconflicting channel on syria, and this is some kind of confidential information. you say there is no trust, you mean zero trust now... i said we're losing the last remnants of trust. which is not yet zero. theresa may and emmanuel macron both

made it very clear that this was all about the degrading and deterring the syrian government's chemical weapons threat. it was not about the intervention into the civil war, and it was certainly not about regime change in damascus. do you accept that? so they said. do you accept that? we do not accept this. what we accept... i mean you have hardtalk, we want hard facts. and highly likely is very ridiculous. and the policies of our western friends... sorry, when you say highly likely, do you mean the assessment that chemical weapons were used in douma by the assad government forces. no, isaid highly likely, as a new invention of the british diplomacy to describe why they punish people,

because these people are highly likely guilty. like, you know, in alice in wonderland, lewis carroll when he described a trial and when they discovered that the jury could be engaged, and the king said, "let's ask the jury," and the queen shouted, "nojury, sentence first, verdict afterwards. " that's the logic of highly likely. well, that's what you say. russia opposes the use of chemical weapons and it believes people who use those weapons should be punished. do you agree with that? i thought you were much better informed about the russian position to the obvious. it's obvious. you signed the relevant treaties, you are part of the international commitment to ban and eliminate the use of chemical weapons. yes, more than that. we did eliminate our chemical weapons in 2017, which was verified by the opcw, which was welcomed

by the entire opcw executive committee. and, unfortunately, the united states is still yet to deliver on its own obligations, which they have been postponing and postponing again and again. but if i have just stated the obvious, it's quite clear what the russian commitment is, then surely, you must want the perpetrators of that chemical weapons attack in douma, for which there is overwhelming evidence, to be punished. wait, wait, wait, you are jumping the facts again. i don't think that i am. there is no proof that on the 7th of april, chemical weapons were used in douma. but there is. emmanuel macron and the french have made it quite plain they have intercepts which show helicopter movement, syrian government helicopter movements over douma. they have pictures of gas canisters found at the site of the attack. they also have the record of the syrian government over

the last several years using chemical weapons. if you put all of that together, as far as the french, the americans, the british... i cannot be impolite to the heads of other states, and of course i cannot be impolite to the head of my state, but you have quoted the leaders of france and the uk and the united states, and frankly speaking, all the evidence which they quoted was based on the media reports and on social networks. the canisters, i saw this picture, a canister lying on a bed, and the bed is intact, and the windowglass is not broken. look, you need to be a bit more serious. can you explain to me why a strike, the day before opcw is going to move there and to verify the fact that there was a strike. the american representative of the opcw, the organisation for prohibition of chemical weapons,

says there is a deep concern that russia has tampered with the evidence sites in douma. can you guarantee russia has not tampered with them? yes, i can guarantee that. before you... it's like... it's absolutely the same as was the logic of the resume in salisbury. when we asked dozens of questions, when we requested a common investigation, when we requested our presence at the samples taking ceremony, if you wish, she said no. "we're not going to answer any question until russia answers all of our question" the only question which was addressed to russia, "tell us how you did it?" "was it ordered by putin, the poisoning of this poor couple, or this was the result of you losing your control

over chemical arsenals?" i believe for any intelligent person, it's, you know, a situation which is absolutely obvious. i'll get back to the... back to douma... yes, you have claimed that the event in douma, first of all didn't happen, and in the message sent to change you said there was some sort of event but it was stage managed and fabricated by what you called a russophobic country. the event did not take place. what did take place was the stage. staged thing. it did not involve any chemical weapons. and you believe britain was behind the staging of a mock chemical weapons attack in douma? the history, you know with some experience, during previous decades but we do believe any social services of course can present information to the british. when you say there is irrefutable

proof it was staged, it was faked, you claimed the white, humanitarians, first responders were involved. where is this irrefutable proof? well, the proof is in the visiting of the place. no, no, where's your irrefutable proof that the white helmets backed by the british government have faked to the whole thing? what i did say was that the white helmets are known to work only on the territories controlled by the opposition, including jabhat al—nusra. and the white helmets are known to be ringing the bell one year ago, which was a fake from the beginning to the end, and the white helmets are known to be financed among other countries by the united kingdom.

well, that does not represent irrefutable proof. wait a second, irrefutable proof of what? you said you had irrefutable proof that a russophobic country, by which you meant britain, had worked with these white helmets to stage manage... why do you say i meant britain? don't put your words in my mouth. i did say a country that was trying to lead a russophobic campaign, please quote me correctly. so speaking of irrefutable facts, the douma event was agreed to be investigated by opcw inspectors. they moved to lebanon, they were told by the syrian government they would be immediately issued visas as they come to the border. seven hours later, the douma and the syrian territory was struck. what is the reason for going that way one day before the inspectors are about to arrive there? the us is pushing for a new un security resolution today which they believe is needed to send the international signal that assad cannot be allowed to do this again.

will you work with the united states at the un? if you mean that they want to resume an investigating mechanism which is not transparent, which is not independent and which takes decisions on a sentence itself without a verdict from the security council, then no, we cannot accept this. by the way, and if, you know what i think, please one second, stephen, i believe that the entire reason for this resolution is to make it look that if russia and syria agreed to co—operate, which is impossible, but what they want to do is to make it look that we and syria were bombed into negotiation. that's why in that resolution they insist the syrian government must negotiate.

they forget that the main opposition group which they all support, the so—called group, the leader of this group stated that the united states must continue to use force notjust in case of some chemical episodes, but against the syrian government wherever and whenever the syrian government opposes the opposition. and what is russia's endgame here? i see you're sending more military materiel and men into the syria conflict. is it your commitment now to back assad all the way until he controls every inch of syrian territory? no, it's to protect the syrian arab republic from aggression. which was launched on the 14th of april, and which the three countries say that they will continue. are you going to send this latest sophisticated s300 anti—aircraft missile to president assad in syria, because if you are, the israelis are going to be gravely concerned?

president putin has addressed this issue, and he clearly said and reminded that a few years ago at the request of our partners, we decided not to supply them to syria. now that this outrageous act of aggression was undertaken by the us, france and uk, we might think how to make sure that the syrian state is protected. to be clear, you're saying that what has happened in the last few days makes you reconsider and feel positive about sending those very it makes us convinced that whatever is required to help the syrian army to deter aggression, we will be ready to consider. i want to briefly turn to the case of sergie and yulia skripal,

who were poisoned in salisbury in the south of england. in this interview, you have told me the credibility is important, that trust is important. you are the russian foreign minister. you claim that the skripal attack was mounted by british intelligence services, who you perhapsjokingly, i don't know, are known for their licence to kill. do you expect that claim to be taken seriously? we were told that there is no other credible explanation but to assume that it was russia which highly likely poisoned skripals, we said there are other credible explanations. have you got one shred of evidence to suggest british intelligence tried to kill sergei skripal? well, there is an old roman criteria, who is to benefit? and i believe the uk is grossly

benefiting from the provocations both in syria and in the united kingdom itself. hang on a minute... and is back on the stage of world politics in a very negative and very aggressive and a very weird way. there is inconsistency in your position, if i may say so, foreign minister. in this interview, you have made pains to tell me that russia is overly committed to honour these international commitments and conventions on chemical weapons, including supporting the work of the organisation for the prohibition of chemical weapons. you know better than i that the 0pcw has run tests in four different labs on the nerve agent used in salisbury, all of them have concluded that was a novichok agent in a highly pure form as described by british government. that's the problem. first, the a234 agent in highly pure form, high concentration,

is already raising suspicions. because this... it came from russia, it's quite clear it came from the former soviet union. you invented that nerve agent. you're not factual. you are maybe talking but not listening. this chemical substance was created in the soviet union. then one of the inventors fled to the united states and made the formula public, and if you want to check before raising this, please do so. the united states, they invented this formula. and it was formally taken by the united states social services of their government. but a very light amount, i mean, it seriously damages a person, kills you on contact. but it evaporates very fast.

and a sample taken two weeks after the event cannot, according by our scientists, contain very high concentrations. i guess it's all a question of credibility. you're telling me, it's certainly not credible around the world. you have more than 100 diplomats expelled from more than 20 countries. russia is seen as culpable. if you want to finish the issue of the substance, on saturday, we presented a paper which contains the literal conclusion of the swiss laboratory, which was one of the four laboratories, which did say that there were traces of a very high concentration, but they also said... either you trust the 0pcw or you don't, it's quite simple. it seems you're not saying you don't trust the 0pcw.

for a brit, you have very bad manners. the swiss laboratory report also said, and in the first place, they found something that was invented in the us in 1955 and was used... among equipment of the us and uk army, and we asked 0pcw, who we trust, whether this is true or not. in addition to a234, there was also this discovered. and we're awaiting a reply which of course we will trust. we want to trust and verify. the us treasury secretary is due to announce another raft of sanctions against russian companies and individuals who are deemed to have contacts with the syrian military. there are already over the past two weeks, new sanctions from the states on a whole bunch of different companies and individuals which have hit the russian market very badly.

russia is being squeezed. thank you for your sympathy, but don't worry, we will survive. market down 10%, ruble down against the dollar. it's not just these threats to punish those who keep hurting the syrian government. it's a threat which we see to punish the entire russian people for making the wrong choice during the elections. and they say, "we would never target the russian men and women, we would only target the oligarchs, the politicians, the military who disturb the world." they are lying. because their desire, as i see it, is to make thousands and dozens and thousands and hundreds of thousands of russians disturbed. those who have been employed...

but that is russia's vulnerability. you may have an arsenal of weapons the president boasts about, he says it's the most potent and powerful in the world today, but you have an economy which is weak and vulnerable. true, we know this. but this economy has sustained quite a lot, beginning from world war ii, and i can assure you that the government and the president are very much keen to make sure the necessary forms are taken through and this was the essence of the first half of his message to the parliament, and his second part when he informed his audience about the new weapons in russia. he ended by saying, "we always are ready to talk, provided the talk is respectful and based on looking for balance of interests."

and a final thought, the secretary—general of the un to the other day said the cold war is back with a vengeance, but also with a difference because now the safeguards to manage the risk of escalation are no longer present. you have been foreign ministerfor 13 years. is this the most scary time you have been through? the safeguards, one of the safeguards is having normal channels. the channels between us and the uk have been closed by the british. with all agencies fighting against terrorism, between the military it was a lost long ago by the initiative for london. the russian council, which is a very useful mechanism to promote confidence and transparency, was closed for all practical purposes by nato, who only wants to discuss ukraine in that body. in the european union closed all the channels with russia except talking to us on syria. but do you feel you

are in a new cold war? i think it's worse. worse? because in the cold war, there were channels of communication, there was no obsession with russophobia, which looks like genocide by sanctions. sergey lavrov, we are out of time and i thank you very much for being on hardtalk. hello there, good morning. the temperature on tuesday was just over 20 celsius in dorset but temperatures are going to rise higher than that over the next few days. this was the scene in cambridgeshire where we enjoyed a good deal of sunshine and warmth as well but with more sunshine, and the winds becoming lighter

and pushing away the rain, the temperatures will be rising even higher. and talking of rain, there was some of that on tuesday across some western parts of the uk. wales was quite cloudy, some rain from to time. it came from that band of cloud there. that has been weakening, and the rain petering out as the cloud has thinned. but this is the thicker area of cloud and that is heading its way northwards and taking rain back across ireland, some heavier rain in northern ireland early in the morning, spots of rain through the irish sea, it all clears up towards the north—west of scotland, allowing more and more sunshine to develop widely. the winds still southerly, not as strong. it will feel warmer and temperatures will be a shade higher. 18 in the central belt. 2a, or even 25 now in the south—east of england. still that rain towards the north—west of scotland, could come back into northern ireland, western scotland for a while overnight and then that tends to peter out. we're left with cloud through the irish sea, a little bit misty here as well. 0therwise further east,

clearer skies, lows of 9 or 10 degrees. that band of cloud there is a very weak weather front. it is more a band of cloud but even across northern ireland and scotland, that cloud should break up. still rather misty and cool around some of these western coasts, so not quite the sunny skies here. widely getting into the high teens in scotland and northern ireland. inland england and wales, low 20s. 26 possible in the south—east of england. that's probably the peak of the heat on thursday. the really high temperatures get pushed away into central europe. we start get more of an influence from the atlantic. so instead of the southerly, we're picking up more of a west— to south—westerly. still warm day, though, on friday. and a lot of dry weather too. maybe some showers coming into the north—west of scotland but otherwise some good spells of sunshine around and those temperatures, just a little bit lower than they're likely to be on thursday but still pleasant in the sunshine. this time, it could be rather misty around the coasts in the english channel and around some north sea coasts as well.

high pressure building in across the uk. going to keep these weather fronts at bay in the time being. so the fine weather continues into saturday. again, some areas of misty low cloud in the morning perhaps. that should tend to break up more in the afternoon, allowing the sunshine to develop more widely. temperatures a little bit lower by the stage. but it's still going to be a warm one for the london marathon on sunday. i'm kasia madera in london. the headlines: the former first lady of the united states, barbara bush has died. she was 92. president trump admits high level talks are taking place between the united states and north korea but says he hasn't spoken with kim jong—un directly. i'm rico hizon in singapore. also on the programme: syria says weapons inspectors are set to visit the scene of douma's suspected chemical attack. a un security team are already there. stormy daniels speaks out again, this time revealing a sketch of the man she says threatened her

to keep quiet about having sex with donald trump.