radically reduced their activity around the capital key. it was the most significant announcement after a day of peace talks, but russia quickly added, this is nothing close to a cease fire. so what is it is vladimir putin really re focusing his attention now on eastern ukraine, or is this a potent bait and switch? hinting at a smaller conflict while preparing for a wider war? i'm regarding berlin. this is the day ah, that is what are the even you coming together like this? here is a reason for hope in the world and your countries with movers. i am what we think that we have worked through enough material. so that's a meeting between the presence of ukraine and the russian federation can be made possible. but i think with, after today's substantial conversation,

we agreed and suggest solutions according to which the meeting at the heads of stays is possible. was most of the most significant progress since the beginning of the talks was made today. them i have will that, that has to be full piece on ukraine's territory. no foreign troops. all of them have to leave it. also coming up 26000000 people in shanghai are now under locked down as the new omicron sub very it be a to puts china's 0 coven policy to the test. i think this thing, this, this whole operation is causing a lot of harm to many people and a lot of suffering. and i don't really believe that is necessary or appropriate to our viewers watching a p b s. in the united states, into all of you around the world, welcome, we begin the day with what may be

a 1st sign of progress in peace talks between ukraine and russia. russia's deputy defense minister today announced plans to sharply reduce military activity near the ukrainian capital key. and for the 1st time, russia offered a possible pathway leading to a face to face meeting between president putin and zalinski. while this sounds promising, russia was quick to rein in expectation saying today's announcements are nothing close to a cease fire. and western governments are wary as well warning, and any offer coming from the kremlin could simply be a tactic to buy more time until russian forces are ready to make their next move. i want you to take a listen to what negotiators for both sides said today after those talks was the sewer distiller. said it was after today's meaningful conversation. that was all we agreed and we propose a solution video under which a meeting between the heads of state is possible at the same time as the foreign

ministers draw up a treaty in waters. but when you know that or the more so as during the drawing up of the treaty and the consideration of its detail, will it interest you as that it will be possible to discuss various political nuances and details worthy with robert before the gulf. so if the work on the treaty in the required compromise proceed swiftly, was what the possibility of peace will be, much closer as the weather. when a powerful more in the 1st round of negotiations, we ask the russian federation whether they acknowledge the vienna convention. yes, up about the law regarding international treaties. they said yes and for us, this is very important because articles 52 and 53. clearly state that if an international agreement is signed under pressure, then the agreement is invalid fiscal. so in order for this agreement to be valid and for all size to agree on it, and there has to be full peace on ukraine's territory. them. i have no foreign troops, but all of them have to leave. and yet it has them going to filthy my with the key

or what does in agreement mean if you don't have the nuclear bombs to back it up to talk about that to night. i'm joined by jo sir and see only he's in washington. he's a distinguished fellow with the quincy institute is a national security analyst, mistress, rinsing on it is good to have you with us to night. a bid you hear you hear what the ukrainians are having to say. they're trying to make ultimatums, but they're certainly in a week and position. would ukraine have been forced to the negotiating table if it had not given up its nuclear weapons after the collapse of the soviet union? well, you know, really didn't have a choice in 1991 when the soviet union collapsed. there was about 1700 soviet weapons on ukrainian soil, but they really weren't under ukrainian control. ukrainians didn't operate them, didn't know how to operate them, didn't have the budget to keep them. and if they had tried to keep them,

they never would have developed the good relations that they have with the european union. so it really wasn't a choice for ukraine. they made the right decision, they got some security assurances as part of the deal to bring those weapons back to the soviet union. assurances, unfortunately, that none of the signatories have honored in the, in this war, yet, including russia. it me that signed a deal to respect ukrainian sovereignty and territory when those nuclear weapons were given up. what chance does keith have right now of getting russia to respect any negotiated deal that would in this war? it can't be words, it can't be just signing of a piece of paper. ukraine's going to be looking for a real security assurances. even security guarantees from nato, from the european nations, from the united states. they're going to be looking for military aid packages, substantial economic aid packages,

something that can make ukraine strong enough for clear enough integrated enough with europe, so that even if they remain independent and don't join the nato alliance, russia won't be able to, to invade ukraine again, and frankly, after this experience, i'm not sure russia is going to be looking for any excuse to repeat this debacle. would you say that? but i have to wonder what russia is up to. what is going to do with its military. we know that the u. s. president, his recent remarks have been pulled back a little bit, but he's expressing what many people believe in that you're not going to have an end to this war. as long as you have a vladimir putin in power, do you agree with that? no, i don't. i appreciate the sentiment and i believe president biden spoke the truth in warsaw, and it certainly hasn't hurt progress towards peace as we can see by the progress

of the negotiations today. and the russian withdraw or announced withdrawal of forces from around keith. i think what, what you're going to need is for a potent to be able to implement the withdrawal. so he has to remain in power at least long enough to make a deal. and to bring that to the forces out. i think that is the us go so as biden says, we're not about moving him from power. that's not under our control. he's just expressing his moral outrage that a man like this could be in power and hoping that the russian people themselves would do the take to the steps that are necessary to remove him from power. we ask you go back to the topic of nuclear weapons for a moment. what has the russian invasion of ukraine? what has it done for nuclear, non proliferation? yeah, well it shows that we really dropped the ball when we had the chance after the end of the soviet union to get rid of these nuclear weapons. we made tremendous

progress in the ninety's and in the 1st part of the 2, thousands. and then we stopped making the reduction agreements to get rid of it. i mean, why does vladimir putin have 6000 nuclear weapons? 30 years after the end of the cold war, he's using these as a shield to protect his invasion. we have to, after this is over, we have to, we think our attitudes towards nuclear weapons. these are not our greatest strength there. in fact, our greatest weakness, if potent didn't have nuclear weapons, this war would have been over 2 days before it started nato. and the united states would have made sure of that. so we'll have to, we double efforts to get rid of the 13000 nuclear weapons that are in the world, 6000, held by vladimir putin. you're speaking of the error after this war. i want you to take a listen to what nato supreme allied commander here in europe said when he was asked this week by a u. s. senator, about more permanent us troops here in europe. take alice. i think what we need to

do from a, from a u. s. force perspective is look at what takes place in europe of following the completion of the ukraine. russia scenario and examined the european contributions and brief based off the, the breadth and depth of the european contributions. be prepared to adjust the u. s . contributions at, at my suspicion is we're, we're going to still need more. we're gonna need more, more conventional forces me this, this fits perfectly into what president biden has been warning that the war world has to prepare for a long fight. ahead. yeah, yeah. well, more a, certainly a word we're hearing a lot from the pentagon, these days, more money, more budget, more nukes. but let's keep this in perspective. there were 1300000 troops in the united states. 1.3000000 about 80000 are deployed to nato as a result of this war,

we've increased that by about 12000, so about a 15 percent increase. it to be honest, that's largely symbolic. they do add military capability, but it's more to shore up the allies, particularly in eastern europe. would we, are we going to see a doubling of us nato forces? i don't think so, particularly after looking at the poor performance of the russian forces. does anybody think russia is capable of invading nato europe? i certainly don't. so while you see some adjustments, it is certainly the kind of adjustment that is perfectly doable under the current budget, and it doesn't need the kind of massive increase. the president biden is now proposing . he's proposing to increase the budget by about a $100000000000.00 over last year's request. it is an enormous increase. and frankly, unjustified by the needs we see. well, what about this major paradigm shift that we're see here in europe? the massive defense spending here in germany, that is now under way. is it possible now to imagine

a european union in the near future cable of its own defense and no longer needing the us nuclear umbrella can. can you imagine that in the century? i? oh, well, there's 2 things that would make that possible. one is i do think you need some modest increase in some european spending in the short term, but no one should think that this is a guarantee of security. what would really help security is to take the lesson of this conflict? seriously, we have to decrease our dependence on fossil fuel. there are some plans that note that it would concentrated effort. europe could eliminate it. it's reliance on oil and gas from russia by the end of this decade and in the process, make tremendous strides toward climate change. so there were things you can do. it is a new era. i would not be looking at military as the primary adjustment that you need, if you do these kinds of things. you could imagine a situation where there's

a stronger european union, military force, and actually a smaller nato force by the end of this decade. and in the process, reducing the number of nuclear weapons held by the united states and russia and france and the u. k. in fact, that's the kind of path that we have to go towards if we want to see if you don't want to see this kind of war take place again in the future. a nuclear states should not be able to use nuclear weapons to justify and protect its aggression. it's coercion. yeah, let's just hope that russia never uses those nuclear weapons on the grill to justify anything. mister joe serenity, only in washington d. c. to night. we appreciate your time and your insights could have you on the show. thank you. thank you. well, finally continues on keith's outskirts in the capital city center. regular life is

cautiously been slowly attempting to return for those who have decided to stay in the city, enjoying a coffee again in the cafe. it provides a stark reminder of how things used to be our correspondent and keeps in this report. this is how most streets and kia 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 would hear the constant drum of the bass from technol 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, yet not a village. 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 today,

i am out and about quick quick for one day when i have memories of every corner here will 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 that yes. 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 he had to stay before they can come to day. priscilla gow. mazacco leave 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 didn't look what it was, my inclin, i knew the other since then, the cafe has remained open. the staff have been donating meals to those in shelters . and to the military in the city where so many civilians have left

those in uniform or no among the most regular client life in the ukrainian capital there, there has been a lot of talk of ukraine becoming a neutral nation if any deal to in the war can be achieved, but what does that actually mean? my next guest is the author of neutrality in world history. and he joins me tonight from stockholm, sweden, where he is, professor of history and head of the center for maritime studies at stockholm university professor, laos. mueller. it's good to have you with us to night when russia, when russia says that it wants to see a neutral ukraine. does that mean anything apart from ukraine not being allowed to have any allies? well, i think that walk, oh, what the discussion about you cry?

no 12 day is going on today in these days. so they look very much back on the notice of austria and a treaty that austria as a state mate in 1955, which was a permanent note policy. and behind that notary to were the allies of all of the 2nd world war, those mate, the street was made 10 years after after the war and the yeah, it provided a kind of security in the situation in 1955. and i believe that some russian point of view, so this austrian permanent, no tati, and no trolley zation. he secede as a possible model at present situation. but they have to also think about the fact that no trinity us option was on the table since 1992. it was on the table in the ninety's and actually we have countries, you know,

it was an option in a crime before twos of 2014 and molto. a border, a neighbor of crane has actually no tro to its constitution to the 1st. let me know, let me ask you about, you know, you brought up the example of austria after the 2nd world war. but austria also entered, it became a neutral country on its own accord. it obviously had the, the support of the nations to which west, but that's not the case right now for ukraine. is it, i mean, even if it were to become a neutral nation, it would be doing so under duress from russia. what, so would it really mean anything? then that's a good question. it depends on the security guarantees. i mean no truly to we

told security guarantees is just the paper. it's, it doesn't mean anything, but a no tolerated that security guarantees can actually work. and i mean, it worked historically worked for belgium, at least for a couple of decades. so until the outbreak of the 1st of all war and it worked, you know, let's say, so in austria case for quite a long time. so i mean, if there is a will to provide crane with security guarantees, i think it would be doable. the question is, what such a guarantees me and though you believe when you look at the discussion, because we were the case with the ukraine, for example, the 1994. when he gave up its nuclear weapons, it did so. and with assurance of security assurances from the us, the u. k. and russia. and now here we are in 2022 and ukraine again talking about new to neutrality now,

which is new. but security assurances being given to it, i'm just wondering if this notion of neutrality is going to mean it, he think, considering the assurances from other countries that have been made to ukraine in the past have turned out to be nothing. well, it depends on who is providing that security guarantees. and obviously, i mean, when, when the crime was trying to find a security solution for the situation of trust from russia. so they opted for us to know, try to bump it or built it didn't work. so they opted for natal membership, but it doesn't work either because the natal states i'm not interested in getting your crime in so i mean it could be possible or if you, if will cry and we'll find security guarantees that provide the state will witness

the city with necessary security. and i mean, for instance, the, the role of turkey in this situation can be very interesting because dark, it has a strategic interest, even in making who cry. no troy, it's much better for turkey. if all crane is now tro them a full cry and he's a bottle frushell. yes, there can be that that is a very good point. professor mueller. unfortunately we're out of time. but this, this idea, this story is not going to go away. please come back and talk with us again professor les of really thank you. yeah, you're welcome. ah. today in the us regulators authorized a 2nd booster shot for people 50 and over to combat waning protection. offered by the modernity and by on tech pfizer vaccines. it is a sign that the pandemic,

while numbers of new cases in the us are low. the pendant him because anything but over in china m a much more severe picture of this pandemic that refuses to go away . the $26000000.00 residents of shanghai are now under locked down the omicron sub variant b. a 2 is driving a surgeon cove, at 19 cases in china's largest city. and it is the biggest stress test yet for the countries 0 coven policy. a last trip to the shops before the next lockdown residence to the east of the long who river already incomplete, locked down while their fellow citizens to the west can still make some last preparations. but food is already running out and what's left as expensive. over the job, we will be under lockdown, starting from april 1st. so i came out today to buy some food. when i go upstairs, there was nothing left there. what shall i do for the next few days?

the shingle. i'm feeling very insecure and hearing a lot of rumors on the outside lakes were short of this to day and we need to rush to buy them from you. so yeah, the price of goods is rising. and are you sure people are panicking? co wong. lou low vision can call vendors and shops confirm that many items are in short supply. it's also difficult to get vegetables from wholesale markets because they're closed. some wholesalers sold us vegetables along the streets. if we can't get them or if the wet market is closed, we're finished. the shanghai lockdown is set to last for a total of 9 days. it's a hard blow for the popular and economically important hub and it's 26000000 residents. but the chinese government says it's their best chance to stop the

further spread of the corona virus. you on the cross is the general manager of the european union chamber of commerce in china. we spoke to her in shanghai and we asked her about the lock downs economic impact course for this services sector. it is a big loss for food and beverage and for retail, because you cannot access most places that closed for manufacturing day. they could handle for a while with contingency plans, but now it's been going to long. you could have people in the factory locked down or been prepared for for several days. but if it goes in 2 weeks off lock downs, you cannot that anymore. so stocks would be, would be, become shorter in the next weeks. and it is difficult to bring anything in and out of shanghai truck drivers are either prevented by the city of forage in our

region of origin to come into shanghai. or if they go back, they have to quarantine. so this is that impacts immensely the flow of goods. you cannot enter places if you don't have a call that test that's been done within the last 48 hours. but sometimes because it is so overcrowded, the, even the test results come later than the test would be invalid. so many services are for many enterprise, it is impossible to track their office buildings to access their sides because they know people cannot have those valid tests that are required. and i, we were the band that we can join the days on wednesday. the conversation continues on line. we will see you tomorrow.

ah, with into the conflict zone with sebastian, how worry the russian spies about the progress of the war. a small bag of investigative journalist managed to pierce the veil of secrecy. among them, i'm very cold, ortho founder, a guarantor of website which trucks rushes to kind of do services. it's really difficult for like a logical inflict zone. well, because on the bob d, w. a from ukraine.

fertilizer in russia. it's a global problem. both ensure security in many countries around the world. but the war is stopping that for now. our standards now in and what are the solutions? the 3000 in 60 minutes on d, w. ah. ma'am with the memories of a ali and from syria is born in a female body, forced into marriage. great to escape will be the journey of his life far from home. ali can finally become the person. he's always to be

a credit and we'll go with it. i was born in stuart's march 30th on d, w. now into its 2nd month, the war in ukraine has failed to give russia the quick victory it wanted. and there are signs of growing discontent among the political and security elite back in moscow. a small band of investigative journalists is managed to pierce the veil of secrecy around those officials. among them, address alberta, founder and editor of the eigen tour website, which tracks russia's intelligence services. he's my guest this week from london. how worried russia spies about the progress of the war? people inside are not willing.