ah, ah ah ah, this is dw news lie from berlin, anger in the west, as russia, as leader recognizes to break away regions of ukraine as independent states. vladimir hooton's move is criticized by france and germany. and the european union says it will impose sanctions against moscow. also on the program, england scraps its last remaining crone of virus restrictions. even people with coven 19 will no longer have to isolate the british prime minister says that to move away from government control to personal responsibility. but not all medical

experts are convinced and firefighters in argentina struggle to contain massive wildfires, fueled by high temperatures and draft. ah, a michael ok welcome. western leaders have condemned a decision by the russian president vladimir putin to recognise to break away regions in eastern ukraine as independent states. bruton agreed to request from the self proclaimed peoples republics of donetta and lou hottest in a wide ranging speech in the last hour the russian leader has accused ukrainian forces of shelling civilian area. the also says nato has ignored russia's concerns and rejected it. security de mats, german chancellor, olaf schoultz has told putin the decision to recognize the breakaway regions

breaches the 2015, mence, pisa courts. ukraine has appealed to the united nations for help. dw correspondent nick connelly is in key ads and can now tell us a little bit more. nick, how has the ukranian government reacted to president putin's decision? whether this was a move, the people hadn't seen coming all along russia stretch. she had been trying force ukraine to re integrate those separate controlled areas to turn those russian back separatists into ukrainian politicians as away from moscow to guarantee its influence over ukraine as to give a veto over ukraine's aspirations. attempts to draw closer with nature in the e u. so basically by recognizing those sub claim territories, basically that is dead uminski piece versus is dead because that was all about bringing these churches back into the ukrainian fold. pretty difficult see if impossible. see how that could now happen, given that recognition,

we've heard that russia is also going to drop various kinds of agreements on cooperation with those regions. speculation now that that would mean military cooperation, maybe even russian troops being stationed there to protect those are those territories, at the request of their a separatist leaders. that would have li, put russian troops very close to ukrainian soldiers along that $400.00 clumped line for nicholas along at front between ukrainian control territory and separate shelter to the base. it has been stuck and has not moved much since 2015. and even though the fighting and the shooting has continued, definitely a sense here that this is monica and the kremlin raising the stakes. nick, as you well know, washington has been worried that putin would use this recognition as a pretext to send forces into the region. the argument being that he's protecting ethnic russians in an independent state. what are they saying in kia about that? that's definitely the worry and we've heard warnings from washington london in

recent days about russia, potentially planning false flag operations or any kind of a situation which could be used to accuse ukraine of committing oh, some kinds of few crimes or cancun attacks on civilians as a pretext for russian intervention, we even heard vladimir putin and top russian officials, recent days, accusing ukraine of genocide in easton ukraine than these reports to day of ukrainian spies. allegedly could the russians trying to get on to russian territory . russia saying that it was able to kill those spies on russian territory and destroy their vehicles. no evidence provided that so far. um, so definitely a worry that this is all an attempt to try and create some kind of a pretext, at least for russian domestic audience. for military action against ukraine, russia is also handed out almost a 1000000 russian passports to people living in don't yet can lance. so it always has that excuse of going in to protect, not only ethnic russians, but it,

russian passport holders, very nervous time here and a sense that this crisis, after months of building up is now moving into a new phase, nick connelly and kia many thanks. and we can cross to brussels now and speak to our corresponded there, christine manuel. christine, what is the e used reaction likely to be now that president putin has recognized the to break away regions in eastern new grant. that is the $1000000.00 question. michael, when the e foreign ministers convened their meeting at 9 am this morning here in brussels. nobody could have told you that we would be getting the news of president vladimir putin acknowledging the independence of lou hans and don. yet, in a press briefing, after the foreign affairs meeting, the e u foreign policy chief, joseph burrell, said that he hoped that president putin wouldn't take that step. but in the event that he did that there would be a united response that essentially echoes what we've heard from the chief isn't

a bonded line or quoted he has. she says that you and his partners will react with unity firmness. and with determination, insulin charity with ukraine, very little on what that reaction is going to be. i can tell you they're all differing views on that because of the different interests and the positions of member states in the e u. they have different ideas about how to be dealing with moscow. for example, in today's meeting, the ukrainian foreign minister was an invited guest and he urged the european union to already impose incense sanctions. now, on russia, of course, the block has taken a united decision not to do that to wait rather for an invasion before any sanctions or credit, but the awesome e u member states, particularly the bulk of states, those that will close the geographically to russia, who feel that they needs to be a stronger reaction now, even before a classic invasion, as, as, as you, as you could put it, countries like lithuania, for example, who once a big a need to deployment on the east and flag. so it's going to be interesting what

kind of reaction that you was going to decide on big, what is it going to classify this recognition as it's certainly perhaps not the invasion that some new member states would like to see before there is an invasion . so what exactly are they going to be doing about that? you will have some member states calling for strong reaction to this and some interstate who will be insisting on on, on, been com and waiting for that invasion before any such sanctions, harsh sanctions are taken. thank you so much. d. w, corresponded christine manuel in brussels. western leaders say putins moved to recognize the brick away republics as independent amounts to a breach of international law. the decision raises big questions over the 2015 minsk, pisa. coach, reminders of war are everywhere, and done yet, and new hunts. the 2 provinces lie an eastern ukraine,

on the border with russia. both declared independence after the revolution in 2014, which most in the region did not support separatists voted to join russia. and have fought ukrainian forces for control ever since around 4000000 people live in what's called the don bass region. it's known for heavy industry and coal mining and it's large, russian and russian speaking population in the main city done yet. banners read. we are russian. moscow has handed out hundreds of thousands of russian passports, but life is tough caught in the middle. many who can have left most pensioners are stuck, others fight ukraine estimates. there are about $35000.00 separatist troops and

accuses moscow filling out their ranks with russian soldiers. in 2015, a ceasefire. signed in minsk helped end little scale fighting. but the conflict has dragged on, leaving more than 14000 people dead. aah! and with the west accusing moscow of preparing to invade ukraine. done yet. and the hans are in high alert again. men of fighting age had been drafted. women and children are evacuating to russia. and soldiers on the front lines. watch and wait. let's go to a political corresponded thomas, a sparrow here in berlin, thomas, a german chancel, olaf schultz spoke to president putin earlier today and warned him against recognizing the independence of the ukraine breakaway regents. does this reflect

a complete failure of diplomatic efforts? i wouldn't describe it as a complete failure of diplomatic efforts by it's certainly a big blow to efforts that germany and other countries try to bring forward in the last few weeks, especially in discussions with russia to try and ease this situation to try and solve the situation diplomatically and politically, it's important to stress that germany, but also france have specifically focused on what's called the normandy format, which was actually started in 2014, which then helped broker the so called minsk agreements. and now german chancellor of charles is precisely describing that this recognition by russia would be a one sided breach of precisely those agreements, the goal of which was to end the war in eastern ukraine. so it is certainly,

undoubtedly a very difficult situation also for germany and for france as well in their efforts to try and bring this situation to a political and diplomatic end. it's also important to stress that this has been one of the 2 sides of germany's strategy towards russia in this particular context, on the one hand stressing that negotiations are absolutely key to end this conflict . on the other hand, stressing that if negotiations are not successful, then germany will act hand in hand with its political partners in the you and in nato to sanction rush on it. this 2nd aspect, this 2nd point, which will now be very interesting to follow. what exactly will happen will the e, you show that unity that is necessary to bring sanctions forward? what role will all have shorts have in all this? will he still continue focusing on diplomatic solutions? will he still continue focusing on dialogue with russia?

will he at the same time support sanctions coming from the e u? so certainly very important moments now and for germany in particular, very difficult situation, especially when it comes to its focus on a diplomatic solution based on the so called normandy dialogues, which then helped broker the minsk agreements. and now it's a get the u. s. reaction from the oliver's salad in washington d. c. oliver. what are you hearing of from that end of present been called his a national security team to come together. jake sullivan, the national security advisor of the president issued a stark warning on an attack earlier today. he said it would be a war on the ukrainian people, and then the russian president, vladimir putin would crush them, quote unquote, and harm them, and that it could be extremely violent this war. and that is basically the concern here in washington present biden will then be able to say, look,

this is exactly what i predicted. we've heard warnings coming out of the wide holes for days and weeks said of latino putin has been looking for a reasoning to create a pretext for war. and that by doing this, and by the speech that we just heard, created a framework for a subsequent invasion. another concern, of course, you're washington, is that it's not only about a, an invasion on ukrainian soil, which of course is considered an independent country. and therefore, it would be a breach of international law, but it's also about neighboring bella rules where russia, stationed lots of troops of country with 3, but bordering with 3 a nato allies. so it's not only about ukraine, it is about the broader security architecture in europe. oliver, as you well know, there's been talk about a last minute big for summit between biding in putin. is that still likely to happen? well, that really depends on what happens next and how far the russians will go. first of

all, the big question here is how to move on. and they have been threats of massive sunk sanctions coming from the white house. and, and it all depends on, on how far russia will go present. biden in speeches earlier. mentioned that if put in, for instance, decides to just attack the separatist control areas or to integrate them into sent his troops there, the sanctions would be less or than an attack on the ukrainian capital key. if of course there is certainly still an effort to keep the diplomatic path going over salad in washington, d. c. many thanks ali ukrainians around the world are of course keeping a nervous eye on developments. d. w. washington correspondent oliver salad, who you just heard from, spoke to one ukranian citizen, living in the us, whose worried he might lose his homeland. ah,

he may be 5000 miles away. but vitale does, your jenko is still close to his homeland, to ukraine, surrendered to encroach, did everything come authorize. a manager in new york gazelle co restaurant, the crisis back home is the number one topic for him and his colleagues. and toys me a lot that's. it's not the easiest thing to go through and you get an all those pieces of news every day does not help one to have a good day. i'm very worried, i'm very concerned now they said that some things may actually happen anytime soon . and i just some days or can i just sleep right. new york city's east village is home to the largest ukrainian diaspora in the united states and estimated 80000 people here have ukranian roots. the neighborhood hosts the ukranian bank, a school and several restaurants. vitale has been living in the u. s. for some years. a country that gives him more opportunities, but above all security, he says,

his biggest concern are his parents are back home and keep up with sure. well, not, not. it may be because we only have one child and he's not living with us in ukraine. that is why we are staying calm. i don't know how we would feel if our son was in ukraine. maybe we would have to worry every 2nd. oh, outside the u. n members of the ukrainian community demand tougher a sanctions against russia. we cannot rely on thanks. there were past 78 years ago to turn the tide of russia. russia is used to those sanctions. russia has now changed its financial structure to actually have more financial reserves under sanctions. and before we need new sanctions, we need them now. not after. oh wow. many here are growing frustrated with how the situation has deteriorated. in recent weeks, it's terrifying. we're going to lose our home country,

we don't trust anymore. so put in, we just want to see on facts and then we will billiards that dope. so going back russia should keep in their territory elite ukraine to be in a way that ukraine desires to be free country independent conflict muffins, veronica to sex chromosome the tale and his colleagues remain hopeful. the diplomacy will eventually prevail. he goes good thought only a couple more minutes as they are far away on this and yet so close to their homeland ukraine. here's a look at some other stories making headlines around the world. german president and frank vault or stein meyer iis on a 3 day visit to senegal to discuss establishing cove 19 vaccine production facilities in africa. his trip is also expected to focus on the security situation in the wider so health region. multiple european military missions to combat islamic terrorism or ongoing their switzerland's credit suisse bank is facing allegations that it manage hundreds of millions of dollars linked to suspected war

criminals, autocrats and drug deal. a claims come from an international media investigation following an insider data link. credit suisse rejects the allegations. police in new zealand made arrest during a pre dawn operation to set up road blocks around a protest camp outside the country's parliament. authorities want to push back anti vaccine demonstrators who moved in nearly 2 weeks ago. the protesters want an early end to grown. a virus restrictions. british prime minister boris johnson has announced plans to scrap the last remaining grown of ours restrictions in england. speaking to parliament, johnson said the country was moving from a strategy of government restrictions. it a personal responsibility as it learns to live with the virus. among the biggest changes starting this thursday. people with cobra di team will no longer be required itself. isolate mrs. baker, this is

a and for more joining us from london is our correspondent charlotte chelsea pill. charlotte, tell us more about the prime minister johnson's new covert strategy. this is ed announcement that was highly anticipated. the prime minister's plan for, as he called it, living with cove. it's a plan that has been very much supported by members of his own coffee eating in the final legal restrictions that are in place. now there were 2 really big announcements today that have been gripping the attention of the public. the 1st one being that the legal obligation to isolate, even if you test positive with cove, it will come to an end on says they know the government's stress. and the advice still is that you should exercise caution if you test positive, limit fuel contact. but the negro obligation will come to an end. the other main announcement was free testing will also end accept the testing targeted up and they

won't bull as a pro both these decisions quite controversial, but the prime minister defended then in a number of ways. he pointed to the u. k vaccination program, he said some 71 percent of adults in england have been based in that which enabled us the u. k. or england rather to make this choice. he pointed to the treatments that are, that exist now because of the scientific knowledge. and crucially he was looking as well as some of the dates there about the, on the chrome variance in the number of people in hostile men. and all of that he said, led him to feel confident. the now was the time to lift these restrictions, restrictions, which he said had had a huge impact on society. and the economy told us, some of our viewers might be surprised by this. how were british health experts react into johnson's plants? well, this is, i'm sure you can imagine a dividing opinion,

not just among scientists, fantastic experts, but of course, among the public as well. nother some in the scientific community who say with to you into this wires, there is this wall of immunity, but there are others who are more concerned. now, in a press conference this evening, we saw the government scientific advisors standing side by side to the 5 minutes, many trying to walk out from that body language and from questions that were off how they felt about it when they supported the move. they were very keen to stress that if this maurice is towards anything, is that we shouldn't get cocky, they were warning that they could be a new variance which could cause significant problems and essentially injected a note of caution into all of this. but the prime minister stress surveillance methods will still be in place contingency plan should they need to re introduce measures to combat new variance or surgeons of the virus. but of course, there is concern from some expect the day to simply isn't there to support this

move going forward and those who in the public who are clinical honorable looking at this. and as i'm sure you can imagine extremely concerned charlotte chelsea pill in london for as many. thanks charlotte for some australians, it's been more than 2 years since they've seen family and friends from overseas. but now australia has reopened its borders to international visitors. fully vaccinated arrivals to most states will no longer need to quarantine. journalist danielle robertson was at sydney's international airport to witness some emotional unions authoring during some of the strictest private border roles in the world of threat. leah has begun its final plan out of the pandemic. true as the now welcome back into the country, often really to use a relief for family and friends, torn apart by separation. any will be vaccinated. international traveler from all over the globe will now be allowed to enter estrella,

meaning migrant with family members can be reunited in temporary visa holders can travel freely. more than 50 international plots will land across the capital cities in the 1st 24 hours at april civil, ready, been filled with tease of joy, to speak, with light to the airport, and straight into the arms of loved ones. with cab does apart and we're thrilled to be back together. close daily, home and i still have to be back. yeah, it's exciting to be out here. i'm so excited for sure. i'm meeting mom and then headed home, my family and friends, and all the babies that have been born that i haven't met for the last see, the only state or territory international prevalence aren't committed to enter is western australia, which brings down to todd corda on march 3 all international arrivals we require to have quoted related documents like vaccination certificates, and to proof of a negative. this is expected to be a major bruce to the tourism industry that was free pandemic with worth more than

70000000000 euros to the economy, tourism also a people who fact of the many businesses to survive the country now for locking people in and out of the country now has a new message. welcome back. but these closing it will take some time to help the tourism industry get back on their feet with operate is preparing for a slow stream of arrivals rather than a huge block. so that month. overall, this is being seen as a policy step, that one that has been welcomed. my old loyce you have of the last year, he's missed pivotal life moments due to the strict order rule. now that the hot water has come down, the overall sentiment is one 0 grantly and celebration. welcome back. firefighters in northern argentina are struggling to contain massive wildfires that have been burning for weeks across 800000 hector's of farmland and national parkland. the fires are being fueled by hot, dry conditions and are unprecedented in an area that normally receives plenty of

rain. these fires have been burning for weeks in korean t, as province, after an unprecedented drought and extreme heat turned the normally rainy area into a tinderbox. the flames have been through forest and pastors alike in the largely rural region and a full st. animals in the better national park, argentina's largest wetland to flee or die firefighters from all over argentina, a scrambling to help with locals have been left reeling. b b cord, dodi. this is a typical, it's historic, it's never happened. we've never lived with something like this is what we were really overwhelmed. those, this is what i can tell you. now this is a blow for the promise. who gave to barbara at least 9 percent of the province has already gone up in smoke authorities estimate the more than $240000000.00 in damage has been done so far. i said, what is the,

the truth is that korean to his province is going through a catastrophe with the fires, which a lot of animals have been lost, flora, and fauna. and on top of that, there's the jobs. what is to become of us if it's all lost to morrow? we'll go over them with fire fighters and locals. a hopeful that the arrival of rain on monday might finally suffocate the flames. b. and before we let you go, some spectacular footage of italy's mount etna, which has once again war to life. smoke and ash spewed from the volcano, forcing a nearby airport to close. briefly. there were no reports of damage or injuries to residents or taurus who flocked to the area, but they were treated to an impressive display of it as power the 2nd eruption this month when you are watching dw news. here's a reminder of the top story. we're following for you. western leaders have condemned to move by the russian president vladimir putin to recognize,

to break away regions in eastern ukraine as independent states. the european union is threatening to impose sanctions up next the day. stay tuned for that. a mike look who thanks for watching. ah ah ah

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with good care. out of the secret of a friendship with dogs and us. starts february 25th on d. w. ah, an already anxious world. now even more uneasy. russian president vladimir putin officially recognizes the independence of to break away regions in eastern ukraine . before putin's announcement, russian state media had been issuing an ominous barrage of unsubstantiated reports about ukrainian aggression in the regions claiming he ever had shelled civilians blown up a border post. and sent agents into russia so called false flags. u. s. officials have been warning would be used by moscow as a pretext rebuild.