berlin. tonight, ukraine and russia, tensions rising alo the border. esident biden calling for calm. there are fears the seven-year conflict could flare up again. the u.s. president will also make the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks

the deadline for the withdrawal of all troops from afghanistan. and after reports of blood clots, officia recommend stopping johnson and johnson vaccine. and after six months of lockdowns, the federal government says it now has a plan and the power to slow the spread of the virus. ♪ brent: i'm brent goff. to our viewers in the united states and around the world, welcome. we begin the night with worries over war ukraine yet again. u.s. president joe biden is urging russian president vladimir putin to reduce tensions with ukraine. biden proposed a summit today between the two leaders.

kiev is accusing moscow of mobilizing thousands of forces along the border. there is renewed fear that bloodshed is again on the horizon. >> russian warships on their way to the black sea, parts of the military buildup around ukraine that has been stoking tensions in recent weeks. military camps like this one have sprung up and witnesses have reported seeing rows of tanks in the area. now, the west is condemning russia's buildup and reiterating support for ukraine. >> the united states stands firmly behind the sovereignty and the integrity of ukraine, that's particularly important in a time when we are seeing, unfortunately, russia take very provocative action when it comes to ukraine.

we are now seeing the largest concentration of russian forces on ukraine borders since 2014. >> that was when fighting between pro-russian separatists and ukrainian troops erected in ukrainians east. -- erupted in ukraine's east. in response to russia's latest moves, the u.n. secretary-general jens stoltenberg stead they would stand by ukraine. >> we have more ships, more port visits, and we are constantly looking into how we can continue to step up and provide more practical support to ukraine to help them defend themselves. >> ukraine's foreign minister says the offer of help was urgently needed. >> we need measures which will deter russia, and which will

contain its aggressive intentions. this could be, as the secretary-general mentioned, a new round of sanctions, which would raise the price of russian aggression. >> later on tuesday, moscow hit back, saying its deployments were due to nato's actions. >> in response to the alliance's military activities that threaten russia, we took appropriate measures. >> with moscow sending more troops and weaponry to its western borders, ukraine and its ales are also pushing for a diplomatic solution. accusations of blame on both sides look set to continue. brent: for more now, i am joined by the head of the kiev regional office for the heimlich world foundation, a german institute. will the talks held today in

brussels make any difference whatsoever in the tensions we are seeing right now in eastern ukraine? >> thank you. yes, i think it's a very important step for ukrainian diplomacy, direct military talks witht invitation of a conflict through a comic party -- conflict party, russia. it has always held talks with russia as if russia would be a moderator or messenger, but not something that has occupied huge parts of ukraine. now in the talks between ukrainian diplomacy and kiev diplomacy, a strong sign against russia, ukraine has u.s. support.

brent: what about the suggestion today from u.s. president biden that a summit take place with bidens and russian president putin both attending? wouldn't that make a bigger difference? >> actually, yes. that was the intent of putin, to ste negotiations about his position. that's a typical russian approach. to threaten its neighbors and call for talks or negotiations in order to save some wins that russia has achieved in the region. that is always what russia did. to capture some territory or gain something, and thenow pressure can go one step back after having gone to steps forward, and present it as a diplomatic victory. many things will be dependent on

how strong and decisive den will come to these negottions. but now it looks like a minor victory for putin, because it was his intent to invite biden to start negotiations, although there is nothing to negotiate about. russia must bring its troops out of ukrai, stop e threat i ukine and itneighbor stop occupying crimea, which is a symbol. brent: what about the mentality inside the kremlin? is it moscow's belief that ukraine belongs to russia? >> i would say partly. the most important thing is that , for moscow, is that ukraine should be a russian vsal. there is the problem in russia for many years. as start -- as soon ukraine

started to demonstrate its own independence and was successful, it was seen as a threat in moscow. now th ihink many parts of ukraine, especially in the east, are considered in russia as russian territories, and these days, should be at least governed by russia, directly or indirectly. i think the most dangerous part of this perception is that russia wants to decide who is russian and who is not. everyone who speaks russian is a russian person and must live under russian rule. that is at germany used to say 70 years ago, every german-speing person in austria, switzerland, and

luxembourg mt live under german rule. it might be the native language, but they don't want to be russians. brent: unfortunately we are out of time, but we appreciate your time and insights tonight. thank you. u.s. president joe biden reportedly plans to withdraw all american troops from ask anna stan -- from afghanistan this year. the decision will keep many troops in the country by the may 1 withdrawal deadline. there are 3000 american soldiers in afghanistan, serving alongside some 7000 additional nato forces. the taliban has frightened to renew attacks -- threatens to renew attacks if the troops are not out of the country by may 1. our correspondent is following the story for us. good evening to you.

why is the u.s. president announcing this withdrawal now? >> time ran out for him, brent, as he said recently that the may 1 deadline, which was established by the trump administration, was not a realistic timeline to really remove all troops from the region. as americans have really grown tired of the endless wars in the middle east and want to see them come to an end, he really, really had to come out with a precise date. we also have to keep in mind the initial purpose for the u.s. presencen afghanistan was to stop any potential attack on american soil. as the geopolitical situation is changing, ha been changing, many experts say that the threats now most likely emit from syria or yemen, which could be another reason for this withdrawal. brent: the new u.s. defense

secretary was here in berlin yesterday. it was announced at the u.s. military presence in germany will be expanded. what kind of signal does that send to germany and to nato? >> oh, this decision certainly will be seen as a deep commitment to the transatlantic relationship, something biden has touted since he was running for president. this decision itself, this commitment itself is a major shift from the trump administration, who plans to scale back troops from germany. doing so, potentially escalating tensions with russia. this is another happening which also underlines this deep commitment towards nato, and i think it is fair to say,

especially, to germany. brent: the u.s. president today proposed a summit with russian president vladimir putin. what more can you tell us about that? >> president biden from day one has been very critical of putin. he just called him a killer, as our international audience might recall. this was also a necessary step because of a commitment to the transatlantic relationship we were just talking about. president biden wants to avoid any military conflict in crimea, which would automatically activate nato forces to get involved. really destabilizing the whole region, and that something joe biden hopes to avoid. brent: as always, thank you.

let's take a look now at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. the president has won reelection from this west african nation, taking more than 85% of the vote. he had previously bound to serve just one term in office. critics accused him of ringing the race by sidelining opposition figures. an-coup protesters have taken to the streets of myanmar as the united nations warned the country could be heading towards a massive syria style conflict. the u.n. hws called on the international community to take action on the brutal crackdown. hundreds have been killed since the military seized power at the beginning of february. prosecutors say 11 members of the far-right group as terror organization aimed to overthrow the government.

the 12th man is accused of offering the group material support. the pharmaceutical company johnson & johnson says it will delay the rollout of its covid-19 vaccine here in europe. that's after health authorities in both south africa and the united states moved to suspend its use due to the effects, possible side effects. the single shot vaccine has already been administered to nearly 7 million people in the u.s., most with no or very mild side effects the u.s. health bodies are now investigating unusual blood clots that occurred in six women under the age of 50. >> authorities are calling it a short pause. the u.s. johnson & johnson vaccine has hit the same stumbling box as the astrazeneca jab did last month. use of the jensen vaccine has

been halted across the u.s., with health authorities investigating six incidents of clotting in younger women, one of them fatal. the u.s. developed vaccine uses a virus to it trigger immunity, the same method as the astrazeneca vaccine. it accounts for roughly 5% of vaccines delivered so far in the u.s. >> i had a j&j vaccine appointment today, and i saw the news about it getting kind of revoked, so i called and i asked them. they said, you can get the pfizer vaccine in said. -- instead. >> my wife had the j&j vaccine three days ago, so i am just hoping nothing bad is going to happen to her or to anybody who got the j&j jab. >> this is a setback to europe too. johnson & johnson announced it will delay its rollout on the continent. they had already started processing an order from the eu

of 200 million doses. >> i imagine there will be repercussions as we are waiting for millions of doses, but this means the controls are working. if we need to be cautious, we need to be cautious. the jab has been partially rolled out in africa, where a majority of countries don't have enough vaccine for their own health care workers. the african union signed a deal for 220 million doses this year. u.s. authorities remain hopeful, saying it can only be a matter of days before the rollout resumes. brent: for more now, i am joined by a virologist from lancaster university in the u.k. good to see you . the stop of the johnson & johnson vaccine in the united states, what do you make of that decision? >> i think it's really unfortunate news, particularly becae thisas the only single shot vaccine that was approved

and is one of a few vaccines being rolled out in the u.s. this is a vaccine we were considering an alternative to astrazeneca vaccine concerns, because it could be stored at a lightly refrigerated temperature. looking at the data out of the u.s., there is no such concerns with pfizer and moderna vaccines compared to what we have seen with johnson & johnson. this clearly indicates there is some general concern. although those are rare elements that are not normally seen in a normal population, blood clotting, that something we need to watch for very carefully in the coming days. brent: this is a double whammy for the european union, because astrazeneca has been paused for people under the age of 60 because of fears of blood clots, and now johnson & johnson says it will delay the rollout of the vaccine here in europe because of these blood clot concerns.

>> absolutely. any vaccine that is not considered helping in the deployment, in the developing world is a blow to much-needed efforts to blanket vaccinate the whole world. for the european union, i think it is certainly a setback, although this pause is considered temporary and is only precautionary, i personally feel because the astrazeneca and johnson & johnson use the same technology, there is a fair chance that association of this immune mediated depletion of the cells and also a blood clot is associated with the vector itself. if that is proven to be associated, it would be a setback for europe and for the rest of the countries. i want to make one point here -- this was the only vaccine that has proven efficacy against the south african varia, and that was the only reason why south

afca decided to deploy this one. they have already posited bee it has a0% to 15 efficacy against the johnson & johnson -- againsthe sou african variant. if that situatn comes, we will have no backup. even the pfizer would not be as effective. brent: so what does this mean for the efforts in africa to vaccinate people successfully? if you don't have the johnn & johnson vaccine? >> this is certainly a setback, as i said. the african union, once they have seen the concerns about the astreneca, they declined that contract and moved towards johnson & johnson. if this would carry on happening with johnson & johnson, it would be a big concern for the african union to deploy at the rate they were anticipating, and als the contbution to the covax

facility would be reduced because of the demand by other countries on johnson & johnson. all in all, any vaccines having concern with not only have a contribution towards vaccine hesitancy, but to the supply. that would greatly affect the rollout. brent: as always, we appreciate your time and your insights. thank you. >> thanks for having me. brent: india will fast-track emergency approvals for covid-19 vaccines that have been authorized by western countries and japan. the country is ramping up its vaccination rollout as it battles soaring infection rates. and the director general of the world health organization says confusion and complacency are ensuring the pandemic has a long life. the who says proven public health measures, if applied, could bring the pandemic under control within months. here in germany, chancellor angela merkel would like to leave behind what has been

fragmented and largely unsuccessful pandemic response in the midst of what ll-blown covid-19 crisis. than additional powers. she r nationwide response to the pandemic if hospitalization nuers remain high. >> she wants more clarity and a more uniform approach to coronavirus measures in germany. frustration had been mounting over the last few weeks as it became increasingly difficult for the federal job are meant -- federal government d germany's 16 states to agree on rules to tackle the growing covid-19 cases. >> in order to improve the situation and slow down the third wave, the measures implemented thus far by the federal government and the states don't go far enough. our response to the pandemic must more stringent than consequential.

the response includes changing germany's infection protection act in order to grant the federal government more power to enforce coronavirus restrictions. health matters are normally under the jurisdiction of the states, but this has led to a patchwork of sometimes contradictory rules. the new laws would force any states with a high incidence of covid-19 cases to enforce the same regulations, including limiting gatherings, introducing a nighttime curfew, and shutting down nonessential shops, leisure activities, and restaurants. people in berlin think stricter measures should have come sooner. >> i don't think they are the right measures, but it's basically too late for the right measures. they should have been introduced a year ago. >> i think there are too many people involved and it would be difficult to reach an agreement. it would be more efficientf

fewer people were making decisions, if more power lay with the chancellor. >> health experts have been warning that the situation in germany is serious. being treated in intensive care units is rising, and risk hitting hier occupcy levels than at the peak of the second wave of the pandemic. >> if we don't take strict measures, this number goes higher and therefore i am really concerned. we may have to act as soon as possible to prevent people from dying in icus because they are not treated in the right way. >> the new legislation still needs to be approved by the german parliament. angela merkel has said she hopes they will implement the changes swiftly. brent: for more now, let's take this story to our political correspondent, simon young. this federal approach, a

nationwide approach to trying to control this pandemic -- why is it so controversial? >> well, brent, of course, measures to restrict peoples freedom during the pandemic are by the very nature controversial. some people say lockdowns are essential to get out of this. others say the emphasis should be on opening up, and the measures proposed in this bill include some pretty drastic ones, like nighttime curfews, potentially, also possibly going back to closing schools if infection numbers go up. controversial in that way. eons that, the question of whether one regime for the whole country is the right way to go -- if you remember, a year ago in the early stages of the pandemic, people said germany's federal system was allowing local responses, and now the fear is that that fine tuning will go out of the way.

you have a mix of 16 different regional approaches, which has not succeeded in bringing infections under control. brent: and the chancellor wants to have this federal approach. one approach. is she going to get what she wants? >> the government would like to put this through parliament and to speed up the legislative process. to do that, they need a two thirds majority. it is not clear if they are getting that, because the largest opposition party, the afd, is very much opposed to this bill. they say it is an assault on germany's federal system. others are more inclined to vote for it, but it would also have to clear the other legislative house, where the states are represented. a lot of those regional states are not happy about this one-size-fits-all approach. we will have to see if it will pass quickly. i am sure it will pass in the end. brent: and the other big issue

here in berlin, we have two conservative governors who would like to be the conservative candidate for german chancellor. did election -- the election is coming in september. where do we stand tonight? do we know who will be? >> the two men, the heads respectively of the cdu and the csu parties, they met with conservative parliamentarians today, seeking their support and trying to talk the other down in many cases, a pretty bruising encounter by all accounts. who could win the most votes in the election in november. it seems as though they have agreed to sort this out by the end of the week. they say they want to agree on whoever the candidate ultimately will be. they just both want it to be them and not the other guy. brent: simon young, as always, thank you. muslims across the world are marking the start of ramadan.

islam's holiest month. pilgrims in saudi arabia prayed at the sacred site of mecca while social distancing. rituals during ramadan include fasting from dawn till dusk and communal prayers. only worshipers that have received one covid-19 shot are allowed to enter mosques in the holy cities. you are watching dw news. after a short break, i will be back to take you through the day. tonight, the russian threat. what will ukraine, nato and the u.s. do about it? we will be right by. ♪

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