berlin. bringing down the tension from ukraine. the u.s. and russia pled to keep talking. they told the u.s. there are no plans to invade ukraine despite thousands of russian troops at the border. mounting concern over taliban gunmen arresting women's rights advocates in kabul. some actvists say they have

gone into hiding to escape the taliban crackdown. ♪ the u.s. singer meat loaf, best known for his 1970's hits, has died at the age of 74. we will take a look back at his legendary career. ♪ brent: to all of you around the world, it is good to have you with us on this friday. we are ending a couple of weeks of high stakes diplomacy in switzerland. antony blinken and the russian foreign minister met for 90 minutes to discuss the threat of a russian invasion of ukraine. when the talks were over, both

countries said there is no change in position but a willingness to keep trying diplomacy. no common ground, but no battlegrounds, either. russia says it has no plans for an invasion despite the presence of tens of thousands of russian troops near the border. >> at least they are talking. with relations between the u.s. and russia at a extreme low point, the top diplomats had radically different goals. the u.s. to avoid russian military action in ukraine. >> we have been clear, if any russian military forces move across the border, that is a renewed invasion. it will be met with swift, severe, and a united response from the u.s. and our allies. >> russia has set it once security guarantees from the west, including denying nato membership to ukraine.

the russian foreign minister said he hopefor a de-escalation. >> i spoke frankly about this and he agreed that we need to have a more reasonable. dialogue i hope emotions will decrease, althou there are no guarantees. >> meanwhile, ukrainians are preparing for an invasion that could come any day. the satellite photos are said to show russian military equipment near the border. tens of thousands of russian troops have been stationed nearby. in the east, where any invasion is expected to begin, ukrainian soldiers took heart from blinken 'european trip. >> i think when we face this tense situation, this is very important for country. it shows we are not alone, we have support. we can count on our forces in our allies. >> however, the u.s. has ruled

out a military response to any russian invasion. instead, it has outlined a range of possible sanctions. russia says it does not want to get bogged down in endless talks with the u.s., but both sides say they will in the keep talking. brent: for more tonight, i am joined by the senior director for russia on the national security council. he joins me tonight from new york. what would you say today? does it represent a victory for diplomacy? >> certainly it is a step forward. it is clear they want to remain on a diplomatic track. the u.s. has promised written responses to russia's demands in the next week.

there will be another round of talks. a step forward for diplomacy today. brent: you have suggested the situation could pose a big opportunity to create a new european security order that includes russia. podcaster that. what without look like? >> there are a number of elements. the first is agreement to restrain military activity along the russian frontier. this is military transparency. limited exercises. the second important element is an agreement on a moratorium on nato expansion eastward.

short enough so that the u.s. and its allies can s that they have not slammed the door on membership. it is a new order. brent: what about the sovereignty of ukraine? isn't that giving into russian demands? >> it is notiving in.

i feel confident that if the u.s. and russia wouldower the temperature, it would give ukraine the political space they need to focus on domestic and socioeconomic problems. brent: would me bringing the u.s., ukraine, and russia together to the table for talks? we cannot talk about ukraine without ukraine being there to pursue its own interests. >> it does not mean ukine needs to be physically in the room every time they are being talked about. they have to give up that pretense.

we saw that this week. antony blinken began his european tour with a meeting in ukraine with president zelensky and the foreign minister. that is the probe. -- appropriate way to react to this. brent: we appreciate your insights tonight. thank you. we want to take this story to the director of the russian international affairs council. it is good to see you again. let me ask you, what do you see when you see what happened in geneva today? is this a victory for diplomacy? >> it might be a victory but definitely it is not a success.

it is good that they still talk to each other. the heads of the diplomatic services. but we have not observed any significant progress. the meeting also indicated that the priorities of the two sides are divergent, not convergent. secretary blinken is focused on the situation in ukraine, while russia insists on security guarantees. they have an opportunity to avoid direct discussion. moscow can argue that whatever it does within its borders is its own domestic business. they do not have to discuss it with anyone else. the u.s. can argue that to discuss the security guarantees for the nato alliance without other member states sitting at the table is inappropriate.

washington is not ready to do that. brent: you say russia can do what it once to do with its troops in its own territory. that is not what the kremlin once from ukraine. they want written guarantees that ukraine will not join data. that iating into the sovereignty of kiev, isn't it? >> the position in moscow is the wrong position. the sovereignty of ukraine is limited. ukraine survives on a life-support system provided by the west. it is better for those who have the final word. brent: when you say the sovereignty of ukraine is limited, are you in agreement from what we have heard from vladimir putin in the past when he is told u.s. presidents that ukraine is not a rear -- real

country? >> you are asking about my positions or the positions of president putin? brent: do you agree with him? >> i think we should take ukraine as a sovereign cotry. as a country in a very difficult position. it has to look for compromises. in certain ways it is limited in what it can do no president of ukraine is in position to implement those agreements in full. we should understand the circumstances. brent: one more question, don't you think the limitations and what ukraine can do is a direct result of having 100,000 u.s. troops -- russian troops at its doorstep? >> that is probably right. the russian position is that it

wants to deter a military action of ukraine in the east. ukraine might be tempted to use military power in order to resolve that. this is exactly what russia is trying to prevent. brent: the director of the russian international affairs council. we appreciate your timand insights tonight. thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making headlines around the world. russia, iran, and china are holding joint military drills in the indian ocean. it is the third year they have met to strengthen ties. a spokesperson for the drills says the goal is to expand cooperation and support world peace. the islamic state has lost one of its biggest attacks in syria since it was defeated in 2019. they targeted a prison in northeastern syria. that is where thousands of

fighters are being held. dozens of fighters have escaped. the health minister for yemen says 70 detainees were kled in an airstrike carried out by the saudi led coalition. they targeted two cities. doors at local hospitals today are overwhelmed with injured victims. in donna, the -- ghana, the government is looking into a massive explosion that killed dozens of people. the blast occurred when a truck carrying explosives to a goldmine collided with a motorcycle. >> a deafening blast.

[explosion] a village reduced to rubble. a desperate scramble to salvage survivors. the people watching in horror as dead bodies and debris covered the ground. police fear the death toll could climb as emergency crews combed through the wreckage. the vice president vendor -- visited the scene. >> this is a disaster. not only for the community here. it will be felt inhe whole of ghana. >> the opposition is calling for an impartial investigation into the incident. police say the explosion happened when a motorcycle crashed into a truck. the motorcyclist died.

the truck driver was able to flee before the truck exploded. they said he averted a bigger tragedy by alerting a nearby school. with their homes in ruins, many families have been putp in makeshift shelters. authorities are calling on nearby towns to open up their doors to the survivors. brent: still to come, on the spanish island of la palma, the volcic danger might be er about mountain ash still stand. we will have that story in just a moment. five women have reportedly been arrested in kabul after a group of men claiming to be taliban officials were seen breaking down the door of a female activist's home.

she was among a number of women protesting against the mandating of the he job -- hijab over the weekend. she published a video on social media calling for help. the taliban has imposed a number of crackdown on women since they topple disability government last august. we have more on that now from an afghan journalist and women's rights activist who joins me from istanbul. with this story, do you have any more information about the women detained by the taliban? do you know where they are and what condition they are in? >> thank you so much for covering this. the taliban attacks on civic space and protests is alarming. it is also contrary to the promises they have made to the international community that

they would respect women's rights and human rights. that shows how their actions are toward women. women who are asking for basic rights. they want to go to school, have political participation, and have a workplace. to have some kind of contribution to the community. we do not have any information on the three females who have been detained by the taliban. they broke down the doors and got into their houses. they got the females out. they do not know where they are now.

if they want to show us that they believe in the value of human rights, they need to imminently relse them. and also send them back to their houses. mediately they need to release them. the families were right about them. all the afghan women who are seeing that. brent: standby, because we hav another report. we want to show another example of how the taliban rules everyday life and how it is becoming more and more bizarre. take a look. >> storefronts look different under taliban rule. clothing shop owners have received an order to behead their female mannequins. desperate for customers, they

used decapitated displays to attract female shoppers. >> the taliban told us these heads were against sharia law. i was forced to remove them. >> this came from the ministry of virtue. it has angered many shoppers. some are even refusing to comply. for the shopkeeper, this is not just about the manikins. he is deeply skeptical of the promise to grant women more rights. >> all of this is just the beginning. now it is cutting off the heads of display manikins. tomorrow they will go further. they will ford more things to women. they will be what they did years ago when they were our.

-- in power. >> many can only anticipate what the taliban will do next. brent: that is a bizarre and disturbing report. this is not encouraging. it tells us the taliban, with each bit of resistance they encounter, they are pushing even further. is there any way to stop this spiral to the bottom? >> yes, of course. we expect from the internation community, from our allies who have made a lot of efforts for the past 20 years to maintai and preserve the values of women's rights and human principles in afgnistan, we

need them to talk aut women's rights the recoition ofhe taliban. we should not be surprised about the interaction of the taliban. we have this experience back in 1995. we have experienced with how they show themselves. we should not be surpred about that. their ideology has not changed. we need and expect the solidarity of the international community, humans rights institutions, and also the taliban to preserve and respect human values and rights. brent: we will get that message out. we appreciate youelping report

on this important ory. thank you. >> if they want to show in actions that they believe in human rights, they have to immediaty release these three female protesters that they detained. brent: we will definitely get that out. it has been heard. thank you very much. >> thank you so much. bye. brent: it has been a will to month since a volcano in spain was declared no longer active. several thousand residents were evacuated have now been allowed to return home. after 85 days of her options, they are facing a difficult task of cleaning away the ash which many fear could disrupt their lives for years to come. >> it was the longest volcanic

eruption in the history of la palma. while the danger might be over, life is far from over -- normal as the cleanup operation continues. this 80-year-old has returned home f the first time in four months. his house is buried in three meter piles of ash. i will find a couple of friends to help me clean this up. we will see if we can get the car out. first i will try to clean up out of the house. when i come back, i will live upstairs. as another local resident plows through the remnants of the volcano, she fears it will take years to fully return to normal.

this is a very big problem. people think when they cleanup, this is over. we can now enter our homes. look for the volcano is. wind will blow it back again. >> there is criticism for the lack of assistance. >> the problem is the more you remove, the more you see. you el powerless. i do not know where the people are, where the help is, i do not understand anything. >> authorities have offered to help the vulnerable, but most face months of heavy labor in the struggle to make their homes habitable once again. brent: one of the biggest voices in rock music has fallen silent. the singer known as meat loaf has died at the age of 74. he sold more than 100 million

records in a career that spanned six decades. ♪ >> the u.s. singer meat loaf died on thursday at the age of 74. ♪ the singer initially pursued a career in musicals. he attracted wider attention in the rocky horror picture show. ♪ is best known album, bat out of hell, came in 1977. it sold 43 million copies. the hits followed, but his career suffered at times due to drug-related problems and disputes with the writer of his

hip songs. he was happiest on stage, performing for his loyal and devoted fans. >> the fact that they have bought tickets, come to shows, and the majority of them love to what we have done. that has been the best present you could ever get. >> now the big of the rock valid has gone. but the music lives on. ♪ brent: meat loaf dead at 74. here's a reminder of the top stories we are following. russia and the u.s. have agreed to keep working to ease tensions

over the ukraine. the u.s. said it will respond in writing to security demands by next week. after a short break, i will be back. the u.s. and russia agreed to talk some more. with cia has discovered about the havana syndrome.

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anchor: no breakthrough at a high-stakes meeting between the united states and russia, as it concludes in geneva, but both sides promised to continue negotiating to ease tensions over ukraine. they are fears of surgeons in the islamic state after militants launch a widescale attack on a syrian prison in an attempt to free those belonging to the group. and former french president nicolas sarkozy's chief of staff