this is news coming to you live from berlin tensions rise as russia deploys troops to the ukrainian border the past military buildup ignites fears of renewed conflict in eastern ukraine the white house calls the escalation deeply concerning also coming up ignoring calls for calm a week about unrest in the streets of belfast problems warnings against a return to the sectarian violence from years past we look at what's triggered this split.

hello i'm terry martin good to have you with us german chancellor angela merkel has called on russian president vladimir putin to pull back his forces from russia's border with ukraine the white house says russia now has more troops there than it any time since conflict broke out in eastern ukraine in 2014 the build up has fueled fears of new fighting but russia insists that it is the victim of western provocations. the russian state television offers a different way of looking at things it reports that ukraine and nato pose a threat to russia and not the other way around. the narrative presents ukrainian soldiers as the aggressors and shows video footage of moscow's response russian troops engaged in military exercises in crimea. what to the west looks like saber rattling is viewed differently by russia from moscow it's

a necessary reinforcement of its defenses against the west but young. for you the majority of the ukrainian military understand the fatal consequences of any actions that would lead to conflict. i hope they won't be provoked by politicians who in turn are being provoked by the west especially the united states. ukrainian president volodymyr selenski sees western troops especially those provided by nato as essential backup for his own forces. on the street here just as opposed to starts now there's an escalation in the donbass region it's a budget everyone can see it when our soldiers are attached and there are casualties obviously we must retaliate i mean if you put it that. a few days ago zelinsky paid a visit to nato secretary-general stoltenberg selenski stressed that the western military alliance is ukraine's only way to end the war in don't pass experts in

moscow say that statement would not have gone down well in the kremlin. any cooperation between ukraine and nato any help from the north atlantic alliance is a red flag for the kremlin. but that doesn't mean that all members of the alliance welcome ukraine's desire to join nato as soon as possible letting right know better steps towards membership are not on the agenda. a clear statement that gives many in russia hope that a war is preventable. the people of donbass are less optimistic though the pro russian separatists insist they don't want war either. knisley if you crane takes the 1st step nobody knows where it will end the muslim. which of. the kremlin is doing all this to blackmail ukraine and the west.

troops are reinforced if their school ation continues even a small provocation will be enough to set things off with unpredictable consequences. russia's defenseman. history says this who teaches recent exercises if the situation escalates t.v. screens may soon be showing the real thing to bring in our correspondent yuri rachet oh in moscow yuri it was suggested in that report there that russians saber rattling as part of an effort to blackmail ukraine and the west can you explain the rationale behind. well terry the experts i spoke to says several reasons for that 1st of all they're all say the trash doesn't want to annex dong boss as it once did with crimea instead moscow sees don't buy us as a part of ukraine but on its own russian terms and to that means on the largely russian control through the politics in gone by small skull could put pressure on

all ukrainian politics that's what moscow obviously vaughn's new president selenski understands that and that is why he has changed his tactics towards russia in the beginning he used to be looking for dialogue with moscow now he is choosing a completely different tone and to once and nato membership the 2nd reason is that there has been having a heavy pressure on the program and politicians going to ukraine in recent months all russia friendly t.v. channels for example was closed by president selenski putin didn't like that and now he's obviously taking revenge the next 3 isn't is that the significantly worse relations with the west the verbal exchange with the u.s. president joe biden who called putin and there are there are you never forgets something like that and finally there is also the upcoming parliamentary elections in russia terry the kremlin apparently needs and you are a gent that distracts from the internal russian problems and seeks an enemy from outside and he once again ukraine fits very well as such an enemy ok so that explains the context very well but russia does have these troops now massed at the

ukrainian border has indicated how long it plans to keep them there. well i should have beads again and again that the troops are on russian territory and moscow would be allowed to do everything possible with them that's true also russia can to disregard to don't bust because if it doesn't intervene in this situation to the next issue could be crimea from the russian point of view and to the loss of a donbass could result in further political losses for russia on the other hand terry there is a risk of getting involved in a war with the almost whole west given that russia has no allies or even sympathizers in the in child western world we can assume how the possible vaulting in the end will turn out for moscow in case of war the situation for russia can become extremely complicated and the consequences to put it mildly unpredictable are absolutely experts believe it would be better if moscow steps of these right wing as soon as possible what's being done yury to avoid further escalation in this

conflict well obviously the minsk peace agreement doesn't work any more ukraine in particular nor long as seems to feel obliged to implemented but russians to insist on their own interpretation but there is i think still a chance of that if this problem can be result through negotiations for that i think and your model has to be found and the west good moderator this negotiation process again germany and france have been sitting on a negotiation table with ukraine and drop ukraine and russia for years and seem to be accepted by both sides perhaps the americans would have to come along but on the other hand russians wouldn't like that so it means it remains an extremely difficult conflict in the middle of europe yuri thank you very much as always did obvious moscow correspondent yury russia. if you look at some other stories making headlines around the world today u.s.

president joe biden has announced new controls on at home gun assembly kits and ownership restriction on unstable individuals biden described gun violence in the united states as an epidemic that follows recent mass shootings in colorado and georgia republicans have attacked the measures as unconstitutional. iran has released a south korean oil tanker it seized in january tehran had demanded the transfer of $7000000000.00 held in south korean banks due to u.s. sanctions it's unknown if the payment was made ship sailed hours before talks resumed between iran and other countries over iran's nuclear program. germany's corona virus infection numbers are rising rapidly the health minister is warning that emergency rooms are filling up but german political leaders have been at all over how to handle the crisis a media report says a meeting of state and national leaders scheduled for monday has been postponed due

to disagreements some states want to loosen regulations while chancellor angela merkel and others are calling for tougher restrictions. health minister u.n. sponsored a warned that the situation in germany was serious and called for a unified national approach and tougher restrictions because it signed order to reduce the numbers we need consistent and if possible nationwide measures so. many citizens also recognize the need to break this wave of infections with additional measures that many polls show these very clearly. if you're going to at any rate citizens have a realistic view of the situation and the gravity of the situation and the majority are in favor of stricter rules a lockdown is needed to break the current way to develop suppression. our political correspondent told us sparrow is following all this for us so told us as we just heard there from the health minister the infection numbers in germany are rising

intensive care units filling up how serious is the situation in this country no it is certainly very serious terry those numbers that you mentioned and in particular what health minister yen spahn also stressed the situation in german hospitals and intensive care unit they've described that as being a very serious situation not only now but also probably in the coming weeks however it is important to also stress that the numbers that we're seeing now are not necessarily very reliable because it seems to be a backlog in the numbers that have been reported to health authorities here in germany in particular because of the easter holiday so you have both sides you have on the one hand the fact the numbers are way too high that's jewish and is very serious but on the other hand the picture is not clear enough for authorities to exactly know what the path forward should be and we heard the health minister call for unity in germany and tighter measures but political leaders are deeply divided

over what steps to take next why can't they agree tallness. unity has certainly been missing here specially after all those meetings that we've seen in the possibly tween the german chancellor and regional leaders and then in the end when it comes to putting them in practice they vary significantly between one region and the next and over say this has to do with different priorities if you look at national versus regional priorities coronavirus situation in the country is not the same everywhere as you can imagine so that explains one part of the story the other part has to do with the big dilemma that authorities are facing here in germany on the one hand that understandable feeling among germans that they want a return to normality they want some sort of openness at least a perspective to what open is but on the other hand the numbers remain too high so authorities are all 'd this the also considering the possibility of imposing strict restrictions so you have 2 sides of a very difficult picture here in the country and that's why the challenge for

authorities both at a national level and at the regional level is indeed very serious thomas thank you so much our political correspondent thomas sparrow. to northern ireland where a week of violence shows no sign of letting up raising fears of sectarian conflict not seen in the years rioters have been battling nightly with police and belfast ignoring lawmakers pleas for calm the unrest began last week in british communities with tensions high riposte sprague's of trade rules them arland sympathizers took to the streets with their response. conflict in belfast on a scale not seen in years. crowds exchanged petrol bombs and stones across the wall built to separate northern ireland's unionist and nationalist communities. a flare up of the sectarian violence the vast majority in the british province want to see

consigned to history. there can mean no p.s. in our society for violence or the threat of violence on it most all just as it was wrong in the past and was never justified so what is wrong i am counting the justify. the violence began in unionist neighborhoods where most people want to remain part of the united kingdom the tension had already been growing after unionists lost their majority in northern ireland's parliament 4 years ago it boiled over with the bricks of agreement which imposes border controls between northern ireland and the rest of the u.k. . they also think it's a direct consequence of boris johnson said i was up in the bronx at the r.e.c. border that he did that but overall i think that's a consequence of everything just building up most of us including those who oppose spreads it have some sympathy for those people like there who fade bitrate they were promised some sun let up plans but that was

a fun to say it was never high brags that what they and those in government knew about but were more interested in their own ascent to part than the heart and instability there deception because here in northern ireland. police in belfast used water cannons for the 1st time in years to disperse crowds who came out night after night despite appeals for calm from both british and irish leaders. now what do you call a large group of jellyfish well residents in the northern italian port town of tree asked have found now experts say this smack of barrel jellyfish is one of the biggest ever found in the mediterranean. see environmental groups said the unusual gathering was probably down to particular winds and currents that had pushed the jellyfish into the harbor. just reminder the top story we're following for you today on t.w. news george as i go back will has called on russian president vladimir putin to

pull back his forces from russia's border with ukraine the u.s. has also expressed concern about the buildup of russian troops which the white house says is the highest since 2014. coming up next a look at the moment ethnic minority in transylvania on terry martin thanks for. the 6. their story their very own personal drama. the people who survived the catastrophe remember. and they share private footage with us that has never been seen before. back to chernobyl storks people 26 on t.w. .