ah, ah, ah ah, this is dw news live from berlin, russia claims that will radically reduce military activity around keven chinese in ukraine. it's a sign of potential progress and peace talks held in turkey. ukraine says it could adopt mutual status in exchange for security guarantees. a meeting between russia and ukraine, fleet of is also on the table. and also coming up, ukraine says it's forces have retaken a key town near the capital keith, but ukraine's president warns russian troops are regrouping to seize it back and

elsewhere. the country continues to suffer heavy damage. ah, i'm a new keeps mckinnon. a very warm welcome to the show. russia says it has decided to dramatically reduce military activity and northern new crane included, including around the capital, keith rushes deputy defense minister alexander for mean made the remarks following a new round of peace talks with ukraine held in istanbul, he said, russia had made the decision to increase mutual trust, i had a future negotiations. she says, gathering was the 1st face to face meeting in more than 2 weeks. guarantees for ukraine security were on the table along with the possibility of keep agreeing to long term military neutrality. and we can straight to our correspondent you johan

in istanbul, who is outside the dome, a buttery palace, where the talks have just ended julia that they'll seem to have been some movement . can you bring us up to speed? well, the talk. so today, here in istanbul between the ukranian and the russian delegation have lasted about 4 hours, with occasional breaks, some progress has been made on some issues. yes. but there has been no major breakthrough. there is still no peace agreement inside and there is still no ceasefire. deal turkey has been hosting these deals are, these are these talks today. it's trying to act as a facilitator in this crisis. and that's why we heard from the turkish foreign minister and little earlier, he said that negotiate is here. in istanbul have made the most significant progress in talks to date, so that is a slightly more optimistic assessment on behalf of the turkish hopes. now,

if we look at what the delegation is actually said after, there are a talk. so what stood out from the russian side is that russia pledges to significantly decrease military activity in here, in and in charity here out that might actually bring some relief for the civilians there. but again, from what i understand, this is not russia promising a full scale ceasefire. now the ukrainians want security guarantees, international security guarantees. they want to 8 countries among them, poland, israel and turkey to act as guarantees under any possible agreement with russia. and they say, if that system works, they are willing to declare neutrality. that's the key russian demand. they want ukraine to drop their aspirations for nato membership. but again, this is not something with an immediate effect on the situation of the ground. so further talks are needed. can you tell us about the delegate,

how high level all they do they have the authority to actually make decisions? well, let's say they were not high level enough to actually make the decision. so what's happening now is that each side takes the proposals and what's being discussed back home to the capitals to p a and moscow. now of course, we've seen some names that were already familiar from previous rounds of negotiations. the ukranian majority, leader of the ukranian podium and ukraine's defense minister was here on behalf of the russian side. we had a chief adviser to president putin, interestingly, russian oligarch roman brung, which was also here and oligarch sanctioned by the west. so who has apparently played a role in official talks in recent weeks, but really, the turkish side now says, what's following, what's going to follow is a meeting between ukraine's and rushes of foreign ministers again. and then

eventually a meeting between the 2 presidents, mister protein and mr. lensky. 6 mrs. lensky has said that he's willing to attend such a meeting because he believe that's the only way to end. this was the big question . mark is whether vladimir putin is ready to talk to mr. zalinski today. if i could ask you briefly, the turkish president ad one on the russian president putin. no each other. well, but does anyone really have the influence to push putin closer to a deal? well, it would of course be a diplomatic win for president edwin. if he somehow manages to secure an agreement here, but the turkish position really is that someone has to talk to the russians. he has good relations with both ukraine and russia, but turkey also heavily rely is on russia for energy, for trade, for tourists. so there is a lot to lose for the turkish president as well. and that is also why he is trying to act as a key facilitator as a mediator in this crisis. julian in istanbul,

many things under now here in the studio by d w's, former moscow correspondent, emily show and, and emily, we just heard julia talking there about the delegates of these talks. she mentioned that the russian oligarchy, bremond brom, abramivitch has been there participating. can you tell us, why is he there and what's his role been in the talks? it's of really a strange one on it because of the kremlin day finally admitted that he is taking part in these talks. they said that he's not an official member of the delegation, but that he is facilitating certain contacts between the 2 sides. abramoff, which is an oligarchy. as you mentioned, he's one of russia's richest men and he has long standing ties to vladimir putin. though he has always denied that the 2 men are close and russian media, the media that against a has actually been reporting as well that he may have asked put in directly to be

involved in these talks. while actually vladimir nadine ski, who is the head of this delegation, is not in direct contact with puttin himself. so that's interesting. and they're also reporting that he met. he may have met with zalinski as well. meanwhile, there are these strange reports that he was actually poisoned early on, you know, in march along with 2 other ukrainian delegates in the ukranian delegation in these talks. we don't know how significant his role is or maybe he's, he's behind what we saw today the progress. okay, interesting. now, um, do we have the feeling? would you say that russia is starting to back down? do you think that something we could be talking about now? well, i think coming off the back of the talk today, there were some concessions, or at least gestures from the russian side. so the deputy defense ministers today talked about that significant reduction of military acted activity and journey of and, and key f. and he also said that that was a you know,

that they were taken that measure in order to increase trust between the 2 sides. and a nadine ski, the head of the delegation, talked about the idea of the 2 presidents meeting, granny and president and the russian president as a kind of concrete thing that could really happen. and i think that's really significant because you have to remember, of course, the russian side said officially that they didn't want regime change in ukraine, but a lot of experts say that they did, they wanted to get rid of soleski. now it may be that zalinski and put in are sitting across from each other at a negotiating table looking at each other. and that would essentially mean that putin has to acknowledge that zalinski is the legitimate president of ukraine. so it does feel at least that there are some shifts happening here, but of course, for putin, he needs to sell whatever happens as a victory to his people, doesn't he? so how is he gonna do that? i would say that it's not hard to sell, because then you have to remember that the russian narrative, especially on say tv is totally totally different. they said that they never planned to take over ukraine, that they were going in,

in order to demilitarize the country, as they say, and d, knots, of fide the country. both of those words are so vague that they can mean anything that you want it to mean arm. and they were also saying that it was actually the ukrainian side, stalling these piece, talks that they wanted piece in the 1st place. they were forced into this war war. so i think when it comes to the narrative on stay tv this, this will be pretty easy to spend. all right, emily show and thank you very much. now on the ground in ukraine, the situation is a mixed picture. tens of thousands of civilians remain trapped in dire humanitarian conditions in the besieged port. city of mario pal, and in the southern city of nikolai, of several people were imported, killed on a russian missile. his regional government building dozens, moore were wounded. that ukrainian forces for that part are recapturing territory from the russian addresses gunfire in the ukrainian town of air pin.

here ukraine says it is made new gains in repelling russia's invasion. the town on the outskirts of keith was taken off, the fierce battles and heavy shining presidents zalinski announced the recapture. but warned the situation is still tense or go by give it. the occupiers are being pushed away from your pin movie. he pushed away from keith law to cooperate as too early to talk about a secure situation. the fighting continues. remark. ukrainian soldiers are expecting further attacks and have been preparing to hold a ground. one soldier explained. they were able to push back russian forces 3 to 4 kilometers from their position. the suburbs worker when we walked through the starboard were shooting at us. within 60000 people, he used to live in our pin. many of them were forced to flee. some manage to escape fighting on the front line. to get to keith.

i wasn't sure my jesse pray to god for salvation. worsley then i pray every day for the soldiers who defend us shortly. let them have courage. god. let them have strength failed. ho. ukrainian troops said they were also able to retake control of the town of trust dentist in the northeast, close to the border with russia. russian army tanks and artillery were left behind after counter attacks by ukrainian forces and a nearby car keys. the wall has left homes and streets in ruin. the proceed city of mario pole is still contending with a major humanitarian crisis. 160000 people are trapped without food, water and power. at least 5000 have been killed. officials have renewed their

appeal for people to be evacuated. even with peace talks underway, russian troops continued to bombard defense facilities in ukraine, and ukrainian soldiers are determined to stand firm against russia's aggression. amnesty international has accused russia of committing war crimes and ukraine. the human rights group says the russian army is deliberately targeting civilians and striking hospitals, schools, and apartment buildings. the invasion has uprooted more than 6000000 people within ukraine, and has sent almost 4000000 refugees into neighboring countries. russia, meanwhile, has accused ukraine of torturing captured soldiers. ukrainian officials say a video showing the alleged torture is fake. and we can talk now to agnes calamari, the secretary general of amnesty international, which has also published it's 2021 report on global human rights today. miss cullum

on thanks so much for joining us here on d. w. we will come to your report in just a minute. but can you tell us 1st, please about the kinds of human rights violations that amnesty is currently monitoring in ukraine? absolutely. i think the best way of describing the situation is to say that the con treason, fire is on fire. or we have been documenting an escalation of the human rights and humanitarian law violations, including the indiscriminate orderly barry targeting of civilians. cbs infrastructure, such as a hospital and schools, we know that in cities under siege, human, italian curry, those are not functioning, tracking people are in those cities. we of her or so documented the use of weapons which have a disproportionate impact. weapons, many of which i've actually been on the object of arm of contravention under

international law. so the situation right now is one of the major, severe a suffering are imposed on the people of ukraine. russia has stifled independent media since the invasion. many people in russia we believe are just simply not aware about what's happening. what can the international community do to counter rushes, crackdown on freedom of speech. are just clogged on freedom of speech. started before the aggression of ukraine. it has only become worse over the last few weeks, but 202021. i'm the international as documented. the shrinking space of. 9 independent media and dissenting voices, beginning or ending at the beginning of the year, we saw the arrest over i like sign a brand new, and then the target to avoid independent media. right now,

when the international community can do each and sure to the extent possible, that some avenues for information on sissy board to the russian people. and that is what i am the scene to national and, and although so doing but, you know, in a war situation, these information pope, again, the already of the weapon of war. so this is fond of witching to war, you know, trying to keep board of the story, or people around the world. mis coloma, let's talk about your report in, in your report. your organization says rushes invasion of ukraine was just the tip of the iceberg. when it comes to human rights violations in your report, you also say that states use the pandemic as a pretext for suppressing free speech and descent in many parts of the world. you document whiting and equality with wealthy countries breaking promises to care for the most vulnerable and transfer medical technology to developing countries. and

you say many states and armed groups disregarded human rights law and committed war crimes without being held accountable and even report refugees. and people displaced by conflicts all over the world have been systematically denied the basic rights to seek protection. miss coloma is ukraine's refugee crisis deflecting attention from other crisis regions around the world. in many ways, it is in other ways to demonstrate that the international community can do more when it is confronting on international a crises such as in ukraine. so look, the fact that the international community is standing up to the aggression of russia against ukraine. the fact that european states are demonstrating, gina, or the key to of the ukrainian refugees must be celebrated. absolutely. but what we

must also insist upon and to the ukrainian refugees, our pride across the boat to others as we speak right now. there are refugees stuck between bella, russia, and poland, who are denied entries into, into poland. i would like to also point out that the war currently taking place in ukraine is also evolved values. we need to keep the moral high ground in that, in that war, if we have any chance of winning it. and whenever we are preventing refugees, such as the one stuck into no man's landing below russia, whenever we are having dope or standard in the implementation of international rules, we are actually failing to win that wall of values. can you tell us a little bit about how the coded pandemic has added to a worsening human rights situation worldwide? absolutely, 2021 for i'm listening to my short. it is

a year of the trailer. we start to do with government telling us we're going going to build back better. in fact, it did not. what's happening 2021, the political elite and corporate to call. you didn't, to ensure that the, the vaccine remain within a few hands at the expense of the vast majority of the population by the end of the year. only 8 percent of the population in the poor countries of the world ad been vaccinated. the impact of that ease is costed in human life. it means that millions of people have died. that which could have been preventable. it is costed in kids not being able to school to go to school. it is costed in unemployment because there would be no global economy creek coverage. just some piece more recovery in a few countries. and on top of that,

now in the few months, 1st few months of 2022. we have a war in, in, in ukraine which is, i think, the terry ball impact on foot. which meant that many countries around the world are going to actually experience food shortage. in addition to an explosion of prices of basic necessities that ease the outcome of one year on betray on in 2021, i must tell him i will have to leave it the agnes column of amnesty international. thanks so much for your time. thank you very much. now, while fighting continues on, keeps outskirts in the capital city center. regular life has cautiously but slowly been returning for those who have decided to stay and during a coffee again and a cafe provides a stop reminder of how things used to be a correspondent in keith sent us this report. this is home,

most streets and it looked like these days before the war kia was one of europe's party destinations. this street was full of young people, spending the evenings and not far from here. you were to hear the constant drum of the bass from techno clubs. now the only drum you hear is from artillery from the outskirts saving statues from war. the fighting has left its mark on the city. even though downtown keith has so far been spared heavy shelley, it's mostly the elderly, was still in the capital. gillis, i was born here. my mother was born here and my grandmother. my great grandmother lived here. when i was here yesterday and i am here to day, i am out and about with chris bull hadn't been doing this. i have memories of every corner here. boy and i pray to god that i and all other residents of keith will be all right. sampled the doping stillness. yes. and we,

we have everything there is heating, there's water, there's electricity, it would be a sin to complain. of course, there are restrictions. the very fact that there is a war is terrible psychologically. but physically we are managing, with according to official estimates, half of the population has left on the ground. it feels like more than that, those that remain have been anxiously following the fighting. so far, the outer defenses have held on key of central my non square exact, for weeks key of has been 40. 5 people have prepared themselves for a possible russian thought. but as the russians are stored in front of the city, confidence as returning to the capitol, people are slowly returning to the streets. their feeling more comfortable being outside. businesses are now reopening some never close their doors like this coffee shop in the trendy padilla neighbourhood. on the very 1st day of the war,

the owner decided to yet to stay. before they can come to day, priscilla go mazar hollywood at 8 a. m people came in and asked whether they could get a coffee. some of them usually we open at 12, but they looked at me in a way that i couldn't say no. then even more people came and that's when i understood many are leaving. but there are those who want to stay just and they need something to look for, which is great. but they didn't look what it was, melinda, when they knew the was it since then, the coffee has remained open. the staff have been donating mused to those in shelters and to the military in a city where so many civilians have left. there was an uniform unknown among the most regular clients. now some of the other stories that were following for you at this hour, ukraine's president zalinski has once again pleaded for the west to provide fighter

jet tanks to help defend his country from russian attacks. zelinski accused western countries of cowardice and warned that russians aggression would not stop in ukraine predicting that russia would move against the baltic states. and poland. for a kremlin spokesman says, russia has no plans to use nuclear weapons in the war against ukraine and a tv interview. dimitri pest golf said russia would only use nuclear weapons. it faced a threat to its existence. vladimir putin, his stoked fears of nuclear war. after warning, western intervention in ukraine would trigger consequences you have never seen. because the and g 7 energy ministers have rejected demands by russian president to send to pay for russian gas with rubles german economy and climate minister about how back the demand is unacceptable and called on companies not to comply with it.

now shortly after russia invaded ukraine, german chancellor will i fall? it's announced a historic increase in military spending. it included a one time, some of $100000000000.00 euros to swiftly upgrade the armed forces and the pledge to spend at least 2 percent of germany's economic output on defense every year. so what exactly is germany planning to buy with these billions is a place to look. these us build aircraft up top of the bonus air shopping list. the f 35 can carry all types of weapons. it's design and coating. make it difficult for radar to detect with germany's current fleet of fighter jets aging fast. an upgrade is long overdue. d f m. ross ish is us with the f. 35 is the most modern combat aircraft in the world. ha, mega and many of our partners, especially here in europe, have also chosen aid. susan, middles, and partner,

together with our partners in the lines will strengthen our ability to secure nato air space. was incredibly to ter, lockwood, and also if need be, defend ourselves. was our business been as i most of the fact either the deal marks a shift in policy instead of pursuing its own development projects the bond as they are spying what's on the market. even though critic say it increases germany's dependency on the u. s. the war and ukraine has made military modernization even more urgent. when it comes to add offense, the german armed forces are now also considering purchasing an israeli anti missile shield. this system is called arrow 3 and compliments the so called iran dome, to protect israel against rockets. it can shoot down long range ballistic missiles and would be powerful enough to protect countries in eastern europe as well. that's something germany so far has not been able to do, but might need to in the future. few missiles,

annadolastot prepare ourselves for the fact that we have a neighbor who is currently prepared to use force to assert his interests. and that's why we have to make ourselves strong together so that that does not happen until blood also needed new heavy lift transport helicopters to replace the old sikowski. c h 50 three's, a system developed. and the 1960 s, the list of what the bond is where needs to bring it into the 21st century is a long one from navy ships and tanks to radio equipment. and i'm in this losing the backlog caused by decades of chronic under funding. will likely take yes. you're watching the w news, and his a recap of our main story. russia claims it will drastically reduce military activity around ukraine's capital keith and the northern city of channing. he at peace talks in turkey. russia also set a meeting between the leaders of both countries could take place. once

a draft p. steel was ready. you're up to date, the beth from the bundle. sleeva is up next on kick off. i'm on your campus mckinnon on behalf of the whole team here at dw, for watching tooth with ah, with

ah, with a pulse with the beginning of a story that moves us and takes us along for the ride. it's all about to perspective culture information. this is either you news or

w made from mine's. oh, a joy ride. fascinating world. into uncharted deb, our guides know their way around in a strictly scientific trip to some pretty wacky places. a curiosity is required tomorrow today on d w. sometimes a seed is all you need to allow big ideas to grow. we're bringing environmental conservation to life with learning facts like global ideas. we will show you

how climate change and our mental conservation is taking shape around the world and how we can all make a difference. knowledge grows through sharing. download it now, feel free. ah ah, ah, welcome to global 3000 and insecure future, the survival of penguins in the antarctic is under threats. dangerous dependency. how russia's war in ukraine is worsening, hunger around the world, and far from home, ukrainians, flee.