♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: archite. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be partf a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.

narrator: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers likeou. thanyou. announcer: and now, "bbc news". welcome to "bbc the " >> i'm confident our partner countries will follow, that will make the sanctions more effective to make sure russia pays a price for its activity. >> there are some in the world and here who have turned a blind eye. he was in moscow in march,

but his rehabilitation carries a message for authoritarian leaders. carry out and wait out the storm. >> hello and welcome to the program. ukraine has been a common theme at two leader summits. on their first day of meeting in japan, g-7 leaders agreed sanctions against russia. president zelenskyy made a surprise visit to saudi arabia. president assad of syria also making headlines. this is the first time he has been invited to the arab league since the civil war that has pocketed the country. later, we have a special report

from the new york times. it has uncovered shocking evidence of degree coast guard abandoning site -- asylum-seekers. let's focus on the g7 summit in japan. the leaders have agreed sanctions against russia. britn and the eu have indicated they want to restrict ade in russian diamonds. what have the leaders agreed? in a statement, they call for russia to completely withdraw its troops from the territory of ukraine. they also announced sanctions that are intended to starve russia of g7 technology, equipment and services that support the war machine including restrictions on export

of items they say are critical to pressure on the battlefield. these new sanctions are the latest in a string of measures designed to cut off the flow of money going to vladimir putin and his regime. >> western nations are trying to limit russia's access to money. the u.k. says it has targeted 1500 individuals and entities and frozen assets worth more than $18 billion. last year, the u.k. as well as the u.s., japan, and canada also banned imports of russian gold. now, they are targeting diamonds. that industry in 2021 was worth $4 billion u.s. in exports and that is just the beginning. next, the u.k. says it will be targeting copper,, aluminum. the government says those measures and others at up to 60%

ofladimir putin's warchest being immobilized and that is worth about 342 billion u.s. dollars. here's more of what rishi sunak told mcauley. >> all believe in a world where we play by the rules. it's right that we stand up for those things. we are better able to do it if we do it together. >> both the eu and u.s. have announced similar sanctions and last year, joe biden set out plans to ban russian diamonds, seafood, and evocative -- vodka. the question now is if they can get support from other nations like russia. >> our guest is from the atlantic council militia center. -- malaysia center. thanks to both of you for joining us.

melinda, looking at these new sanctions if we cast our minds back to february 2022, the west responded to russian invasion with some of the most wide reaching sanctions ever. there was a prediction that there would be 15% collapse in gdp. why would these be any different? >> the answer is, they may not be. it's a good thing that the g7 is working together and increasing pressure on russia. i would look at it as a larger package not just focus on sanctions. in the last week, we have seen president zelenyy go to four european capitals and collect promises of more weapons. they have pledged they will be with ukraine for as long as it takes. it's not only the moral support, it's not the tightening of the sanctions regime, it's additional pledges of weapons.

i think you can take the whole picture, ukraine is much stronger this week then last week. >> the leaders are pmising to put a squeeze on all technology, equipment, services that support russia's war machine. oil is still the big elephant in the room because that's where most of russia's money is coming from. >> yes as you said, oil is by far vladimir putin's biggest export. it is more valuable to the kremlin then diamonds. while we welcome sanctions on other items like diamonds, i think it's a better measure to stop the flow of money to the kremlin. to tighten the oil sanctions to stop the flow of russian oil. >> how do you do that? the mechanisme cap, but that's not necessarily having effective results.

>> the g7 price cap was designed to have a dual effect of maintaining the flow of russian oil around the world while reducing revenues to the kremlin. a witness has investigated the price cap and shown systemic violations of millions of barrels of russian oil. the implication of g7 companies that are still involved in the trade of oil. countries are not enforcing their own rules on the price cap. in the u.k., the sanctions enforcement agency more or less said the same, they have seen five attestations that this is being monitored. we should not only tighten the rules but enforce the rules we have already put in place. >> that's a good point the rules

are necessarily being enforced the way they should. you have said this is also about ukraine gaining overall support. president biden said he's going to get behind this effort led by the u.k. and netherlands to train ukrainian pilots on f-16 jets. that's a promise he has been making for a long time. >> this is headline news in america today that the biden administration has changed its tune on the f-16 coalition. president zelenskyy has been begging and pleading for many months and he needs to control the skies. there is a coalition being put together, or different countries in europe have agreed to be part of this coalition and washington has said it will not block it. what happened yesterday is

interesting. a study came out from the air force saying it would not take 18 months as the pentagon had testified to train ukrainian pilots to fly f-16s. in fact, it would take four months. that diminished the claim that it would take too long and the ukrainians don't really need of sixteens. i think the world has changed a lot. the wars going to change dramatically if ukraine is able months.the f-16s in the coming >> it is interesting, the turnaround that president biden has made. he did say before that ukraine needed f-16 fighter jets. what is changed? >> this report yesterday that came out from yahoo! news was an air force assessment study. two ukrainian pilots a come to

the united states to train on the systems. they have an engineering and mathematical background in the country and ukrainian fighters have shown over and over again that they are very good at adapting to new technology and learning systems a lot faster than we thought they could. this has happened more than once where the west has assessed that the training time is much longer than ukrainians have been able to learn these new systems. it's a political decision. the white house did not want to send f-16s and now it is been shown that the ukrainians can adapt and learn these new systems very quickly, it is game on. >> it opens up a new frontier for the war. if we look at how russia has been upscaling their attacks, the missile attacks, the warchest is really fundamental in keeping these attacks going. do you think the new sanctions

that the economic pressure on russia could significantly chan the trajectory of this war or is it going to come down to fighter jets and offensives, counteroffensive that ukraine can launch? >> i think the quickest way to end the war and to stop the kremlin revenues from accruing is to hit them where we know it hurts which is in fossil fuels. those a the exports driving renues to the kremlin. first of all we need to tighten our embargoes by stopping the refining loophole that allows for russian oil to continue flowing into the u.k. and europe. even disguised as diesel and jet fuel. we also need to get rid of the price cap and institute full ban on the trade, shipment, and insurance of russian oil. then we can properly and the trade and see a significant decrease in russia's availability to wait -- wage war

in ukraine. >> these announcements can only go a long way if they are enacted. thank you for this news coming out of the g7. as leaders gathered in hiroshima, there has been another sobering report about the situation in ukraine. around half of the population could need until health support in the coming months according to officials. that's all because of russia's invasion. the health system is already under strain with doctors haven't prioritized patients with physical injuries from the fighting. >> these are the realities. resisting russia's invasion. for a soldier recently out from the front line, there is often a dark this. a marking from sites previously

seen. he has fought for the past 15 months. he is at a recovery center in northeastern ukraine with his wife who has traveled 600 miles to be with him. >> we will suffer the consequences for the rest of our lives. whenou go to bed you see it. how i pulled out my comrades with no limbs. they died in my arms. this will stay with us for the rest of our lives. >>round 2000 soldiers came here for counseling and therapy last year but this is just respite. most of them go back to fight after just one week. >> he has changed a lot. he proved he was capable of many thanks. protecting us standing up for ukraine i can't find the words to describe describe it. >> it's soon time to say goodbye

one goes home and the other to the front. the weight of this wall isn't contained to the trenches ukraine is looking at the whole population. >> we're preparing our health sector to provide quality psychological services for 15 million people. we hope it will not be needed by every second person but we're convinced the system should be ready to react. >> with a lack of psychologists the emphasis is on self-care. it means by therapy where they share feelings before exploring touch movement heal. yevhen became a war photographer at the start of the conflict. >> i've had to become highly focused on

the present you need to when you are living through war and the movement skills i've picked up in the class i can use them when i am on the front lines o the shelling. >> whether anywhere across the country millions of ukrainians have reported a deterioration in their mental health so that's anxiety stress depression now the state says it's doing what it can but this a growing problem affecting all generations. and because of the ongoing war and the very nature of mental health it's likely to be a long time before the full impact is realized. >> around the world and across the u.k., this is bbc news. let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines today. the chairman of tesco is to quit

after eight years in the role. he has strongly delight three of the claims about his conduct but he did admit to making comments about female staff member. report claimed he touched an employee at the supermarket annual shareholder meeting last year tesco said it made no findings of wrongdoing. counting is underway and elections in northern ireland. they use a single transferable vote system. with one quarter of the results in, the sinn fein seemed to have made a good start.

thank you for watching the context. as we mentioned at the top of the program, while g7 meters -- leaders were meeting in hiroshima,, other leaders got underway in saudi arabia today. that's the summit of the arab league. president zelenskyy made a surprise appearance where he urged the league to back ukraine saying his country was defending itself from colonizers and imperialists. there was also another surprising appearance, the president of syria. he gave an address for the first time in two years -- 12 years. syria was thrown out of the block after an enduring civil war in which hundreds of thousands of people have been killed.

with hisurn to the arab league, thousands of syan refugees living in lebanon fear being deported to syria. our editor met them and he sent us this report. >> in the camp in the valley, there is horror that the man they blame for destring their country has been rehabilitated. it makes precarious lives even less secure. around 1500 syrian's have been forcibly repatriated in the past weeks. ey fear they could be next. the couple met in the camp after they fledyria in 2013. they want better chances for their 18-month-old daughter than they had. the education stopped when the

war began when she was 10 years old. now they believe president assad's return to the arab league might be an excuse for more deportations. >> we are always afraid of the raids, that it will happen to us. i imagine they will come take all of the men and deport them. >> after all the killing and instruction and the misery in syria, it's not acceptable. after everything he has done, they are hosting him. i don't understand it. >> for the refugees, the outlook is as desperate as ever and the prospect of going home is terrifying. on the other side of those mountains, about 1 hour drive from here is damascus. the view from the presidential palace is looking brighter than

it has in years because the president who broke his country to save his regime has been invited back into the full by his fellow arab leaders. he strode into the summit relishing the clearest recognition yet that he has won his war for syria. greeted by the saudi crown prince. a decade ago, they fended -- funded malicious. now he needs syria on his side. ukraine's president zelenskyy was there accusing some arab leaders of turning a blindye to the horrors of russia's invasion of ukraine. listening was -- in the middle east. russian firepower left cities in ruins.

the kremlin's decisive intervention in syria in 2015 must have fed vladimir putin's mission as he planned to invade ukraine. here in beirut, syrian regime face increasing hostility. this refugee family is scared they will be deported if they are identified. they live in and area where a curfew has been imposed. their children have been thrown out of school. the turmoil is all over their daughters artwork. the father views the authoritarian arab leaders embrace of bashar al-assad with contempt in fear. the exit -- the regime is a dictatorship same as others. they are helping each other, cooperating against the people. there is no sign of justice for the victims of the war to save

his regime. he used to speak only to friends , but his rehabilitation carries a lesson for ruthless authoritarian leaders. wait out the storm and you c outlast your eminent dutch enemies. >> now we can speak to a syrian born writer, analyst who sits at the advisory council of the middle east institute. almost a little surreal to see him back in the arab league. what did you make of those pictures after me than a decade of isolation we joining this group? >> i have to say most syrians like myself are feeling numb today. this is an event because the air of regimes want to put this on

the back burner, they want to move on. while they are considering this to be his victory, i also view it as a victory of all of the arab authoritarian regimes because anything they do will pale in comparison with the horrendous crimes against humanity committed by him. for the arab world, for these regimes they have often had disagreements over the years and this is not even the first time that he himself is welcomed back into the arab full. he had been sidelined after the assassination of the former prime minister of lebanon. it clearly means that arab world, the arab leaders have decided first of all that the arab is a thing of the past. the any notions of hoping for

more civil and civic liberties are gone and they're also making a statement to the world, they are saying the pretense of respecting the values and relationships with the west with the united states are not as important today as they turn toward the east, china, and other countries. >> you have described a sense of deja vu, but at the same time it feels like a reorganization which you mentioned at the end of your comments. this is what assad told the summit. he said this is a -- an historic opportunity to reorder our affairs with the least amount of foreign interference. what does that mean for the west? >> it is laughable that he would speak a foreign interference given that from day one given that from day one they were protesting peacefully for change

in the region. day one, the regime has had the help of every single militia that assad supports. of course since 2015, he has had thmilitary support of vladimir putin who has not hesitated to carpet bomb syria. it is laughable that some arab regime particularly asd will speak of non-foreign interference. we are forgetting the notion of iranian influence in the region. this is another thing i believe that saudi arabia would like to get a handle on after all these years. the notion that iran will no longer have the influence it does today on those countries from lebanon to syria to iraq and iran, i think we can forget about that notion. i think the saudi's are now in e leader seat which they have

left to the emirates for a while. some countries need to be convinced of the necessity of this but i think they have begun to consider -- >> there is so much to discuss. i'm glad we could get you for as long as we have, but we will ha narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... narrator: financial services firm, raymond james. man: bdo. accountants and advisors. narrat: funding was also provided by, the freeman foundation. by judy and peter blum kovler foundation; pursuing solutions for america's neglected needs. and by contributions to this pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪

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♪ ♪ narrator: funding for this presentation of this program is provided by... woman: architect. bee keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. george: actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.