ah, ah ah, this is, did every news live from berlin? on the brink, russia announces new drills of its nuclear weapon, rape moscow says the exercises are plant and denies stoking tensions with ukraine. each side blames the other for artillery attacks in east and ukraine. this as russia snobs a major international security conference for the 1st time in decades, leaving western leaders meeting in munich scrambling to find a diplomatic way forward on ukraine, and a promise to africa. 8150000000000 euro investment plan wraps up

a long delayed summit. leaders also pledge fair access to coven 19 vaccines for the world's poorest nations. ah! on layla hock, thank you so much for joining us. we start off with the latest developments in the crisis over ukraine. russia's military has announced extensive drills of its strategic nuclear forces. moscow says the exercises are planned and denies stoking tensions claim and counter claim continue. russia insists its forces are withdrawn from the border region and a simmering conflict has now flared up again in eastern ukraine each side, blaming the other. for artillery showing some months,

these tanks signals the threat of a russian invasion to ukraine. now some of them are retreating from ukraine's bordeaux, rochelle, defense ministry, seeds, military drills. and these places are ovo. and that's all it ever was. ukraine doesn't believe it. when it was i'm was liter not confirmed the russian claim of troop withdrawals. this is not happening. that is only a movement of forces and equipment. we are watching the russian troop divisions, which number 129001. and if we add naval an actual this, this figure reaches $149000.00 when i'm going to get this bill that was coastal sort of babies. these tensions are storing more rapidly in east on ukraine for yours. the don bus region has been a fighting ground between government forces and russia backed rebels. they blame each other for the damage of the conflict. caught in between many ukrainians have migrated to say 4 places. this village, for instance,

has only 5 residence left. and this kinda garden was the target of a recent shelling. the show on your born you'll. i was knocked backwards. i immediately understood, there was smoke and windows breaking everywhere, but from yells upon your lot. bustled them through. all of this russia has announced for though military drills starting saturday, they will be testing their ballistics and crews messiah with president putin overseeing the operation. russia again says, these are just regular drills and not a threat to ukraine. did have your correspondence, mathias billing or is in east in ukraine, in the town? if it's there, i don't ask that's near the front line. in the conflict between government forces and russia backed separatists are meeting us. we just aired a reporter where shelling has intensified in recent days in that region. she can

talk us through at the situation there all along the line all along the contact line. shelling has intensified within the last 48 hours shelling at night and also in day time. um we have a lot of reports on shelling from the separate separatist side onto ukrainian villages on this side. that's what turns more or less confirmed. we do not know what's the situation on the other side. the ukrainian army is saying it is restraining itself. it is refraining from answering the fire. the separatist saw these rebels in this, in these are areas are saying that there is shelling, but they fail to provide any proof. they have also now announced that they will evacuate the civilian population from the whole territory. also here, we don't know what's really behind is this isn't information war 1st and foremost.

so all these announcements are meant to create a certain situation favorable to the, to the goal is that the each side tries to achieve what are these goals is the most difficult question, what are they trying to do? and just so we do not really know what, what to think about or there's what we see is an intensification of fighting. the always see confirms that there was a lot more shelling them for them than a long time ago. actually a few, a few months, even years ago, the u. s. marcia war is that russia could use these clashes that you're describing right now as the potential to plant a flag, a pretext to launch new asia is, is also something that the ukrainian government thinks as possible. yes, the u. s. has one for, for this, for a long time, and the ukranian leadership, the ukranian yesterday, the gender. oh,

who is in charge of this eastern front of the, or the of this part of ukraine where the fighting is happening. said that this is exactly what they are thinking is happening. the shelling from the other side is, is to provoke the ukrainians into a response which would then be used as the pretext for an incursion. this is what the general said. this is what the ukranian official ukrainian read out of the situation did have you corresponded mathias for reporting from east ukraine, but he has thank you for your coverage for the 1st time in decades, russia has snubbed a major international summit in southern germany. the ukraine crisis is dominating the munich security conference, german foreign minister, and alina bare bark and her u. s. counterparts. antony blinking, have called for solidarity in the face of russian to, madam, are the 2 stress that moscow would suffer unprecedented sanctions in the event of an invasion, russia has sent no official delegation. it was last absent in 1991 and then

ultimately lauren esperanza is an expert on transatlantic defense and security at the center for european policy analysis. and she is at the munich security conference where she joins us from so good to have you with us. this crisis is not going away. there has been no meaningful de escalation, according to where u. s. intelligence, with tensions surging back up. has this crisis laid bare on the west powerlessness in the face of russia? well, i think you're right that the crisis is sort of escalating. and i think trust is at such a low point between the west and russia right now, which is why i am very skeptical of some of the calls that we hear coming from the us hoping that russia would make a formal declaration or sign some kind of statement that it will not invade ukraine . the kremlin does not have a good, a strong record of upholding its international commitments. and so i think i please

for that are just not the best way forward. and i am very skeptical of the possibility for a diplomatic solution. i think despite what the kremlin has been saying about it, not wanting a war, its actions are suggesting exactly the opposite. it is not withdrawing forces. it is reinforcing at the equipment in the forest pasture that it has add new ukraine, but also in ballard. and i think putin has very clearly, i decided not to take what he can get from the current negotiations and package that as a wind to the russian people i instead he has chosen to and continue to demand max smallest things that he knows are non starters for the west i, he has exported a us diplomats from russia. i continuing to plant these false flag operations to create a pretext for invasion. and i think he's clearly chosen not to take out the diplomatic pap so far. it's really interesting here is a couple of really interesting points,

especially that on skepticism because there seems to be a dissonance. i mean, a couple of dignitaries who opened of the security conference where you are, we're talking about values and our values. but mr. prudent is not interested in the west values. so do you think there's a disconnect there? yes, i mean, i think this is fundamentally about so much more than just ukraine or even the question of nato membership. really, this is a struggle between the way we organize our societies. it's a fight between democracy and authoritarianism. and clearly russia is forcing this agenda because of its authoritarian aggression that it wants to roll back at the current in shall liberal order and the security architecture that's created by nieto and the united states. and so it's, it's very difficult to talk about values because that is not in buttons interests. and so i think there is a disconnect between what we're trying to achieve through negotiations,

and what mr. brewton is realistically willing to entertain before they go. a final question. if a russian invasion takes place in the next couple of days, and depending on the conditions on the ground, do you foresee a scenario where allies in the people who are there now at the munich security conference would reconsider maybe revisit, coming to ukraine's aid militarily? so i think at the west has put up a very impressive set of plans contingency plans so that they are prepared to to assist ukraine even if that's not necessarily with boots on the grounds inside ukrainian territory. i think there's a very serious sanctions package and that is ready to go and the has been sort of pre negotiated among allies so we can act very quickly. i think there is a lot of training and security assistance weapons,

other things that western allies and partners are providing to ukraine already and will continue to do so. i think that it's an unlikely that we will see kind of us or nato troops inside ukraine, but i do think there is a possibility for escalation or spill over from something that could happen. any grain could potentially involves nato allies, and if that is the case, then we certainly will see a more swift and robust response from, from the nato alliance. lauren speranza transatlantic defense and security expert at the center for european policy analysis. so good to have you with us. thank you for your time. let's take a look at the other stories in the headlines right now. storm eunice has been battering britain with record breaking winds, disrupting travel, and knocking out power 2, tens of thousands. high winds ripped off a large section of the millennium dome roof in london. the storm has caused at

least one death in ireland. hundreds of people were rescued from a ferry that caught fire while traveling between greece and italy around 290 passengers and crew were on board. reports say 2 people are still trapped in the ship's car deck. the rescue operation is ongoing. canadian police have begun arresting protesters who have been blocking traffic in the capital ottawa for 3 weeks demonstrators angry about covert 19 restrictions of paralyzed parts of the city. the crisis has prompted prime minister just and trudeau to assume emergency powers. the african union has welcomed a european pledge to invest 150000000000 euros in infrastructure projects. e u. an african leaders have wrapped up a 2 day summit in brussels, their 1st gathering in nearly 5 years. security sustainability and trade were all on the agenda. but the most controversial issue was access to cove at 19 vaccines

in treatments. 40 african leaders plus their $27.00 you counterparts. this was one of the largest political gatherings of the year here in brussels. we're following travel bands and amid a vaccine divide. this summit was about rebuilding trust and working on establishing an equal partnership between africa and europe. they become a poet than a god of us on than whether we're talking about climate protection, global health, the future of multilateral rule based order feed, peace, and security, or migration. europe and africa can only find solutions to the big questions of our time together. when i get in one particular aspect though, the 2 sides were quite out of tune with each other, vaccinations, or rather the lackey roof. in the e u, which has the capacity to produce vaccines. 70 percent of the population has been

inoculated against coven 19 in the african union, mostly dependent on deliveries and donations from abroad. just about 12 percent have received their shots and we are talking about the lives of millions, hundreds of millions of people. and rather than the profitability of the few companies, it is not acceptable. that africa is consistently at the back of the queue in relation to access to medicines. a 1st step was made to day towards better axis . 6 african countries were selected to receive the technology to produce m r n. a vaccines. today, of all the vaccines applied in africa, one percent is produced in africa, of all the vaccines. and rightly so, the goal is in 2040 to have reached a level of 60 percent of vaccines produced in africa that are administered in africa. v e u has committed to delivering 450000000 vaccines to africa by the

summer. many african leaders deem it necessary, though, to waive intellectual property rights. if they're to become independent from their northern neighbors. so far, that doesn't seem likely to happen. you're watching it every news life from berlin up next is deeply news. asia they've had peace for, for decades. people of iraq entre devastated and there's no end to violence. how did it come to this church? t i grew, this is reveal an unprecedented story. we.