ukrainian president has warned that russian forces may try to storm the capital, kyiv, in the coming hours. volodymyr zelenskyy told people to stand firm, saying the fate of the country was being decided. residents of kyiv spending another night in metro stations and basements. russia has vetoed a un motion. the russian ambassador insisted his country was not waging war against ukraine or the was not waging war against ukraine orthe ukrainian ukraine or the ukrainian people, ukraine orthe ukrainian people, but was ukraine or the ukrainian people, but was carrying out an exercise to protect the residents of donbas. and the united states has said it is imposing sanctions on president vladimir putin and his foreign minister and will freeze the us assets following similar announcements from the european union and britain. the russian foreign minister uses the personal sanctions showed the utter impotence of western countries.

now on bbc news, dateline london examines the war in ukraine. hello and welcome to dateline from the programme which brings together specialist journalist and foreign correspondence arrive, blog, and broadcast those back home from dateline london. this week has delivered a powerful reminder that although we can communicate with lightning speed across the world, depending on where we are we can see the same set of events very differently. to demilitarised your neighbour you invaded stop to denote the it you do what no european leader has done since hitler sent troops into neighbouring countries to protect ethnic germans and then wait those

nations from the map. and to defend european security we watch from the sidelines as your�*s second—largest nation is invaded by the lodges. joining invaded by the lodges. joining in this week, is exposed to the new k. the senior editor of the bbc russian service. ann johnston roll out, the environment correspondent was the studio. welcome to all of you. thank you for being with us. can start with you first, what is wladimir putin conception of historic russia and to what extent do you think this has driven is contemplating and taking was yellow the concept of historic russia made by vladimir putin as a pretext to launch this demilitarisation operation is quite a new thing, apparently. because apparently it started last year in an article he

published on his website, the official website of the kremlin, in which he addressed the idea that ukraine is, in fact, not a real state, basically, that is is a project that he called anti— russia and he tried to make the case that, in fact, ukraine and russia was always one nation separated by some strange and peculiar twists in history and that it is historically bound together and so on and so forth. this concept is, we tried to address it and to run it by the historians, and it has lots of flows and twist and all in all it is quite a mixture of

various historical concepts and ideas. but basically uses that ukraine has been created by communists and, in his speech before the launch of the attack, he said that ukraine is the country which should be named after vladimir lenin. all in all, it is a very strange and very peculiar mixture of various ideas, which does not really fit the idea that putin is up to some kind of a great russian and so on and so forth. in essence, it might be so, but all in all it is just his probable personal attitude towards ukraine as a nation and a russian neighbour. that might create some diplomatic opening. certainly at the beginning of

the week, the elysee palace seemed hopefully could engineer some kind of biden— putin summit, later in the week, president macron was talking about being duped. is there a sense in which his kuyt pali approach, his friendly approach to president putin, it is all very well to criticise it, but it might have been almost a rational response from a european leader, to actually be able to stay his hand all he could try to do was delay it. well, what president macron did was agreed by all the allies and the partners he was talking to at length and for us, before he actually went to his first trip to moscow, if you remember, he was seated on a very, very long table. and weeks before, remember, the beginning of the crisis, when

joe biden was talking to vladimir putin and all the ukrainians in europe, europe was nowhere to be heard. and france residing on the council of the european union did what it needed to do, and emmanuel macron wanted to give a voice to europe and indeed he did. and he likes taking personal risks. it was highly probable that diplomacy would not give anything. but he tried. he tried until, as far as he could, and because as long as you talk, as long as it is not set, there is always a hope for peace. but, obviously, from the moment the tanks from the russian army entered ukraine it was not on the table anymore and the war is here, as

emmanuel macron said, and he also added we are ready. so we will see that.— will see that. the war is here, we are ready- _ will see that. the war is here, we are ready. present - will see that. the war is here, | we are ready. present valinsky sang at the end of the week we are alone. and you know ukraine, you have visited, give us a sense of those who have not visited the country and that idea of a country alone when it is such an enormous country —— president zelenskiy. it is absolutely huge. they think it is 600,000 square kilometres stop in the uk is slightly shy of 200,000 square kilometres. so it is a very big country in the centre of europe. it is your�*s breadbasket, think slightly more than 10% of europe's wheat comes from ukraine. it is a massive country. when i went it was at the beginning of its emergence as the president, when a first word, yanukovych, was an ally of russia, he was subsequently toppled in the

people's rebellion of 2014. i actually fell foul of yanukovych, he actually made a formal complaint to the bbc about my attire, 48 had not been sufficiently respectful. he ended up being rejected by the people of ukraine. that was really the moment of the emergence of not an independent ukraine, it existed as an independent country, but this was ukraine expressing its independence from russia. this was the source of much of the difficulties that have followed the conflict between ukraine and russia. so fiercely independent. a country that i felt, when i went, it is very hard tojudge, that had a very strong sense of identity. they had a very interesting meeting this week stop i just had a very interesting meeting this week stop ijust mentioned in passing with lord brown who used to run bp, negotiated face—to—face with latimer putin on a number of meetings, met his black labrador as part of the over was of a big deal that bp did with a couple of russian companies, a 13 point by billy knott dealfor oil. he

companies, a 13 point by billy knott deal for oil. he said his experience with putin was a man who was incredibly bureaucratic. born out of the bureaucratic. born out of the bureaucratic society of the ussr, he had planned to invade the —— ukraine. it was almost certain that this was a plan that was on rails and he was determined to deliver it, this was the outcome we were going to get whatever the rest of europe are indeed the world said to vladimir putin. when i was talking — said to vladimir putin. when i was talking to _ said to vladimir putin. when i was talking to adam - said to vladimir putin. when i was talking to adam smith . said to vladimir putin. when i was talking to adam smith at| was talking to adam smith at the beginning of the week in us congress, he was basically saying that really there is not much western countries, including washington, could do, including washington, could do, in practical terms, except trying to delay whatever it was that president putin was trying to do. the question is whether russian public opinion over a longer term period will see

this as an advantageous thing, given, from what you said, about the kind of, perhaps, rather week historic argument in which he hasjustified it. public opinion in russia is interesting at the moment. because we cannot see yet what is the real attitude and the real numbers of what russians are thinking about the current crisis. but, certainly, there is some confusion in there. and if we would compare this, this advance with an annexation of crimea, it is totally different. because, yes, we saw backin different. because, yes, we saw back in 2014, when crimea was annexed by russia, we saw that most russians cheered this and they were really happy and the support for vladimir putin went

through the roof because crimea was perceived as something of a symbol of russia, of the revival, where is now it is more like confusion. and it is really... it is not understandable what is going on. it is a full—scale war, which the consequences of this would be heard and felt throughout russia as well as throughout russia as well as throughout ukraine. and that is why it is quite difficult to estimate the real support of the population to what is going on. ~ . the population to what is going on, ~ ., ., the population to what is going on. ~ . .,, ., ., on. we have a situation where sanctions _ on. we have a situation where sanctions is — on. we have a situation where sanctions is the _ on. we have a situation where sanctions is the weapon - on. we have a situation where sanctions is the weapon of - sanctions is the weapon of choice for the west. you have alluded to this already and the efforts that are ongoing. by the end of the week we had two sets of sanctions imposed on russia. some argument over some of the detail is still ongoing.

in terms of the 0kafor impact, question, i suppose, in terms of the 0kafor impact, question, isuppose, is not just the impact on russia, but the impact on western european economies on the americans, on the other nato countries, that are signing up to these sanctions. what are the implications of going down this route? ~ , ., , route? well, they are very important- _ route? well, they are very important. it _ route? well, they are very important. it is _ route? well, they are very important. it is not - route? well, they are very important. it is notjust i route? well, they are very important. it is notjust a l important. it is notjust a question of agreeing on a package and then we all go back to our respective capitals and we go back to our daily lives and just pray that ukraine, you know, fights on behalf of europe. no, it will have massive long—term implications, because if the eu is the biggest commercial partner of russia we also know that in terms of energy, which we will be talking about a bit later, europe is incredibly dependent on russian gas and oil, for

instance, and, you know, sanctions which the eu will need to actually not sharp, i think, as kyiv and all the big cities are under siege and the pressure will be higher for the eu to actually take harsher and harsher sanctions and we are seeing, for instance, what is being discussed is cutting off russia from swift, but also freezing the personal assets of vladimir putin and sergey lavrov, it has all been talked about. you have european countries who want to have an incremental plan of sanctions, you know, to do it gradually. 0thers you know, to do it gradually. others want to strike as quickly as possible. but it is a sort of mental shift. it is almost a paradigms shift,

because it is a long—term process. it is here to stay. and sanctions will have an effect across all policy areas of the european union. we have a sort of permanent crisis. it will, in many cases, aggravate challenges that we already face in europe. also, it means that public opinion in europe, which might want the government to decide on very high sanctions against russia, will also need to accept that it has a cost. of course, it is not a high of course, it is not a high price to pay if you consider that ukrainians are going to pay with their lives, whereas in europe they are just going to play with euros. just in europe they are 'ust going to play with euros.- to play with euros. just on this, i have _ to play with euros. just on this, i have a _ to play with euros. just on this, i have a ukrainian i to play with euros. just on i this, i have a ukrainian friend who lives in kyiv, she said, look, what do these sanctions do, how are they going to stop

bombs, how are they going to stop missiles?— bombs, how are they going to stop missiles?_ she | stop missiles? then not! she makes the — stop missiles? then not! she makes the point, _ stop missiles? then not! she makes the point, you - stop missiles? then not! she makes the point, you are - stop missiles? then not! she makes the point, you are notj makes the point, you are not even taking the really serious sanctions against russia, which would be to stop buying its main export, which is its energy, we could stop buying gas and oil from energy, we could stop buying gas and oilfrom russia. in theory. the problem is, this is theory. the problem is, this is the real riddle for europe is that it can't actually do that because we are not immediately dependent on the russians and we do get gas from elsewhere here in the uk but absolutely, the supplies, we need constant supplies of these things and it is interesting. there has not even been a discussion about should we be imposing sanctions on oil and gas. that tells us how challenging this is. and picking up on the point, look

at the impact this has had on fuel prices. people are feeling the effects across europe and across the world. we are seeing some of the highest petrol prices we have ever seen in the uk. gas prices spiking. an extraordinary increase in gas. a year ago in the uk we were paying 40p a firm, that is about 50 cents. now we are paying £2 75. that is $3.70. what an increase. it is creating a huge political crisis here in britain because the cost of living is rising so dramatically. jae the cost of living is rising so dramatically.— dramatically. joe biden is under pressure _ dramatically. joe biden is under pressure over- dramatically. joe biden is under pressure over gasl dramatically. joe biden is - under pressure over gas prices and the price peoples pay on the forecourt. in uk we recall petrol pump. petrol and diesel and the other fuels are referred to as gas but that money probably problem is an international problem now, isn't it? anything of this kind

that affects a big supplier is going to have an impact on so much for climate change arguments. we might touch on that again. just in terms of that, in practical terms, what about the impact on the russian economy here because the point is, we are told, russia has built up these alarmist reserves. it's got debt levels down but a quarter of its exports are bought by europeans. china presumably can only step in so far even if it is minded to to help fill some of that gap. is minded to to help fill some of that gap-— of that gap. well, it is an interesting _ of that gap. well, it is an interesting example. - of that gap. well, it is an l interesting example. what happened back in 2010 when europe — happened back in 2010 when europe imposed the first round of sanctions following crimea. 0ne of sanctions following crimea. one of— of sanctions following crimea. one of the measures which russia _ one of the measures which russia undertook back then was

the import of certain products in the — the import of certain products in the european union and that was things like cheese and, you know. _ was things like cheese and, you know, chocolate and other things _ know, chocolate and other things. for instance, you still cannot— things. for instance, you still cannot buy italian parmesan spanish _ cannot buy italian parmesan spanish ham in russia. and that was of— spanish ham in russia. and that was of course that had some sort — was of course that had some sort of— was of course that had some sort of effect on the european fanners— sort of effect on the european farmers but it had a bigger effect _ farmers but it had a bigger effect on the russian consumers. it is always strange to assess — consumers. it is always strange to assess the real impact of sanctions on the regime because the population is not that affected with certain measures we saw — affected with certain measures we saw before. but they could

be we saw before. but they could he more — we saw before. but they could be more affected with countermeasures the russian government is trying to undertake. what we saw so far, lets— undertake. what we saw so far, let's say— undertake. what we saw so far, let's say the collapse of air traffic— let's say the collapse of air traffic between russia and european countries, between russia — european countries, between russia and britain, there are no direct— russia and britain, there are no direct flights and there will— no direct flights and there will he _ no direct flights and there will be no direct flights in months _ will be no direct flights in months to come. that has a detrimental effect on the certain— detrimental effect on the certain parts of the russian society— certain parts of the russian society but not for the economy in generat _ society but not for the economy in general. and the rest would be up — in general. and the rest would be up until, as you mentioned, certain— be up until, as you mentioned, certain sectors would be targeted. it would be fine for probably four the government to sustain— probably four the government to sustain its— probably four the government to sustain its spending. but, as we can— sustain its spending. but, as we can see, it looks like europe _ we can see, it looks like europe and the us and other

governments are trying to step up governments are trying to step up and _ governments are trying to step up and even now we are in the middle— up and even now we are in the middle of— up and even now we are in the middle of discussions, we can hear— middle of discussions, we can hear those discussions that it is not — hear those discussions that it is not enough and probably we should — is not enough and probably we should target the financial markets more and so on and so forth _ markets more and so on and so forth 0t— markets more and so on and so forth. of course russia has china — forth. of course russia has china hut— forth. of course russia has china but it is still really difficult to divert to the whole _ difficult to divert to the whole trade towards china and substitute the european trade agreements. in substitute the european trade agreements-— substitute the european trade agreements. in truth there is a twin strategy — agreements. in truth there is a twin strategy here, _ agreements. in truth there is a twin strategy here, sanctions l twin strategy here, sanctions which impart around at the people around putin, the people who do travel, the people you have some wealth abroad, the people who bought houses in london all have holiday homes in bulgaria or wherever it may be. but simultaneously the ukrainians, i've heard it referred people in washington as the porcupine strategy, ukrainians were kind of make it so difficult for russia to sustain at the very least any kind of change of regime or any

kind of change of regime or any kind of change of regime or any kind of potentially occupation of even parts of the bit they have crossed over into that that could be, the two together could force a rethink of peter's approach.- could force a rethink of peter's approach. could force a rethink of peter's a- roach. ., ,, ., peter's approach. you know, it is very hard — peter's approach. you know, it is very hard for— peter's approach. you know, it is very hard for us _ peter's approach. you know, it is very hard for us because, i is very hard for us because, you — is very hard for us because, you know. _ is very hard for us because, you know. for— is very hard for us because, you know, for us _ is very hard for us because, you know, for us in - is very hard for us because, you know, for us in europe, because _ you know, for us in europe, because this _ you know, for us in europe, because this is _ you know, for us in europe, because this is a _ you know, for us in europe, because this is a europeanl you know, for us in europe, i because this is a european war taking — because this is a european war taking place. _ because this is a european war taking place. you _ because this is a european war taking place, you know, - because this is a european war taking place, you know, two. taking place, you know, two hours — taking place, you know, two hours from _ taking place, you know, two hours from london. - taking place, you know, two hours from london. by- taking place, you know, two. hours from london. by plane. and _ hours from london. by plane. and we — hours from london. by plane. and we know— hours from london. by plane. and we know we're _ hours from london. by plane. and we know we're not - hours from london. by plane. and we know we're not goingl hours from london. by plane. . and we know we're not going to be fighting _ and we know we're not going to be fighting alongside _ be fighting alongside ukrainians. - be fighting alongside ukrainians. we - be fighting alongside ukrainians. we knowj be fighting alongside - ukrainians. we know that. we know— ukrainians. we know that. we know we — ukrainians. we know that. we know we can _ ukrainians. we know that. we know we can only— ukrainians. we know that. we know we can only do - ukrainians. we know that. we. know we can only do sanctions. however. — know we can only do sanctions. however. we _ know we can only do sanctions. however, we can _ know we can only do sanctions. however, we can do _ know we can only do sanctions. however, we can do a - know we can only do sanctions. however, we can do a lot. - know we can only do sanctions. however, we can do a lot. butl however, we can do a lot. but they— however, we can do a lot. but they are — however, we can do a lot. but they are not _ however, we can do a lot. but they are not going _ however, we can do a lot. but they are not going to - however, we can do a lot. but they are not going to have - they are not going to have overnight— they are not going to have overnight effects. - they are not going to have overnight effects. and, i they are not going to havel overnight effects. and, you know. _ overnight effects. and, you know. the _ overnight effects. and, you know, the state _ overnight effects. and, you know, the state of- overnight effects. and, youj know, the state of disbelief that — know, the state of disbelief that is— know, the state of disbelief that is in— know, the state of disbelief that is in ukraine _ know, the state of disbelief that is in ukraine but - know, the state of disbelief that is in ukraine but also l know, the state of disbeliefl that is in ukraine but also in europe _ that is in ukraine but also in europe were _ that is in ukraine but also in europe were all— that is in ukraine but also in europe were all week- that is in ukraine but also in europe were all week we - that is in ukraine but also in . europe were all week we don't have, — europe were all week we don't have, it's _ europe were all week we don't have, it's going _ europe were all week we don't have, it's going to _ europe were all week we don't have, it's going to take - europe were all week we don't have, it's going to take time . have, it's going to take time for us — have, it's going to take time for us to— have, it's going to take time for us to camino, _ have, it's going to take timei for us to camino, understand

and— for us to camino, understand and realise _ for us to camino, understand and realise that _ for us to camino, understand and realise that we _ for us to camino, understand and realise that we have - for us to camino, understand and realise that we have nowj and realise that we have now entered _ and realise that we have now entered a _ and realise that we have now entered a new _ and realise that we have now entered a new phase - and realise that we have now entered a new phase in - and realise that we have now- entered a new phase in european history _ entered a new phase in european histo . , , . entered a new phase in european histo. , , ., ., history. this is a profound challenge _ history. this is a profound challenge because - history. this is a profound challenge because the - history. this is a profound i challenge because the whole basis of the nato alliance was not we just defend each other from attacks but actually there was a concept of europe, the kind of stretch beyond simply the membership of nato. that is quite a challenge, isn't it? if we can fight for this country, the nato countries are saying, the nato countries are saying, the western capitals are saying that. but in a sense, what is it for? the french president talked about it being brain dead as a concept. isn't there a danger that is how it looks after an event of this kind? could say that the irony is suddenly brain—dead nato has been resurrected and is triggered article for friday and needs to show it is therefore a reason that, you

know, we have been talking about how international institutions such as the un, for instance, were not fit for the 21st century and when the president talked about brain—dead nato he meant, actually, that we can't, talking about europe and europeans can always rely on america to protectors and be responsible for security. and especially in the time of donald trump in washington, it is interesting what the president said in the early hours after the european council on friday morning, he said the european union is just, it is notjust a market of consumers. we now need to be

in power and to project power. band we need to accelerate the agenda of sovereignty. that is his words. he has been talking about it for a long time. that is his main idea about europe. that we must become independent with a more independent military and it is interesting because the thinking in military circles in france and also europe, the last few years is that 30 years ago european armies were taking part in peacekeeping missions and then in the last ten years the french army took part in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism operations, for instance, in africa. but the thinking there is that, you know, we need to change scale to invest and modernise our

army and tavern are training for what they call high—end war. you can also call it state on state conflict. this is been an opportunity seized but things could change rapidly. from a russian perspective. yes. nato is the key factor presented before launching this operation in ukraine. russia, for vladimir operation in ukraine. russia, foeradimir putin, operation in ukraine. russia, for vladimir putin, saw nato as a threat — for vladimir putin, saw nato as a threat for quite some time. and _ a threat for quite some time. and the — a threat for quite some time. and the enlargement of nato and the inclusion of western european countries are seen as a direct— european countries are seen as a direct threat and probably less— a direct threat and probably less so— a direct threat and probably less so militarily but clearly and — less so militarily but clearly and ideologically and in this

respect, _ and ideologically and in this respect, i tend to agree that several— respect, i tend to agree that several years ago nato might be brain—dead or irrelevant on so many— brain—dead or irrelevant on so many aspects of politics but this time it looks like nato and — this time it looks like nato and ideological times, as putin repeated, _ and ideological times, as putin repeated, it is still relevant because _ repeated, it is still relevant because this is how it has been seen _ because this is how it has been seen it— because this is how it has been seen. , . because this is how it has been seen, , ., ., ., because this is how it has been seen. , ., seen. it is a good point end on. seen. it is a good point end on- this — seen. it is a good point end on. this potential— seen. it is a good point end on. this potential revival. l seen. it is a good point end l on. this potential revival. for all the wrong reasons. thank you very much. thank you. that is all from dateline. goodbye.

well, we have some pretty good weather on the way for this weekend. lots of sunshine across england and wales. a little bit more cloud for scotland and northern ireland, but on the whole, it is still going to be a dry one. so, let's have a look at the big picture at the moment. we are in a sort of window of decent weather across western europe here. there are storms out in the atlantic, but for a change, they are heading way to the north of us. so, we'rejust being gently brushed here in the north west of the country by these atlantic weather fronts. it'll be dry because they'll stay out to sea. and, in fact, most of us will be under the influence of the high pressure, and indeed this is the case through the early hours. you can see the clear skies and light winds across england and wales. a bit more cloud here in the north west because we closer to the weather front. as i said, that weather front will stay out to sea, so it'll be dry. but it will be mild

for belfast and glasgow. we're talking eight degrees first thing across many parts of england, certainly a good chance of at least a ground frost outside of town. so, light winds and sunny skies for many parts of england, very pleasant indeed for wales. in scotland and northern ireland, always a little bit more cloud and particularly windy around some of these western coasts. in fact, off the hebrides, winds will be near gale—force during the course of the day. temperatures fairly similar wherever you are, 10—12 degrees. now, here's the weather map for sunday, and the high pressure slips away a little bit further towards the east. that brings a weak weather front in, and that spells spells cloud and maybe some rain for a time in western parts of scotland, maybe a little bit more cloud across other western areas. but on the whole, for most of us, it's going to be at least another bright day and a generally dry one as well. very, very decent indeed. in fact, the best of the weather will be across eastern and southern areas, but the weather fronts are encroaching. it's because that high pressure, that is, is slipping out towards eastern parts of europe, and that does mean that weather fronts advance towards the uk. so, we are expecting rain and gale—force winds in the north west of the uk, but the rain will spread into england and wales through the course of monday.

so, after the two dry days, saturday and sunday, make the most of the weekend because monday is looking pretty wet, especially out towards the south west. bye— bye.

residents are forced to spend another night underground. there is against. in new york, russia vetoes a security council recommendation condemning russia's invasion. russia cannot be told their own people protesting this war in

the street and russia cannot veto the