♪ it is here in the french capital. you are watching "live from paris." the u.s. unveils a first round of sanctions against russia following vladimir putin's decision to order trips to breakaway territories in eastern ukraine controlled russian-back separatists. on the ground, violence escalating in eastern ukraine, with fresh shelling reported on the line of control separating rebel-held areas from the rest of the country.

claire: you are watching "live from paris" with me, claire rush. actions against russia taking shape this tuesday is vladimir putin orders troops to breakaway territories in eastern ukraine controlled by russian-backed separatists. the territories putin has now recognized as independent. earlier today to u.k. slapped sanctions on five russian banks and three russian billionaires. germany has suspended the nord stream 2 pipeline to deliver russian natural gas to europe. the eu has in its measures targeting individuals including russian lawmakers in addition to measures restricting access to european financial services. legislative sanctions was just unveiled by u.s. president joe biden. here he is speaking a short while ago. pres. biden: we are complaining

full blocking sanctions on two large russian financial institutions, veb, and their military bank. we are limiting conference of sanctions on russia's sovereign debt. --implement a comprehensive sanctions russia's sovereign debt. you can no longer raise money from the and trade on new dt on our markets or european markets either. claire: more on these u.s. sections without washington correspondent. --with our washington correspondent. reporter: these are measures that have been already discussed by the white house when they were talking with reporters about what these sanctions would look like as they were being coordinated and negotiated with the europeans. you have the sanctions on 2 large financial institutions, including the military bank, russia also being cut off from

western financing. that is a blocking sanction on russia's sovereign debt. and that sanction on the russian elites. that is something that the white house was very interested in, to go after the pockets of those who are around vladimir putin, around the kremlin, as well as their families. i think this strikes a chord, because this weekend i was at a rally with ukrainians here in washington that were saying that they were there he thankful to the u.s. had done so far, but they insisted for those sanctions, sanctioning the oligarchs, sanctioning the elites where it hurts the most. that means their wallets and the ability for their families to live, work, study in the big capitals around the world. that is something that they are going to be very happy about. one other thing that struck me

is that the president joe biden ended on still a hopeful note, saying that, yes, diplomacy was still possible if it was serious, still giving russia the option to return to the negotiating table even though he acknowledged that the signs right now were not really prone to optimism. but he insisted that the u.s. and the europeans and nato allies would do whatever it takes to try to turn the tide on the situation. claire: also joining the flurry of press conferences on tuesday, vladimir putin said the deployment of troops to eastern ukraine would depend on the situation on the ground. have a listen. pres. putin: it's impossible to predict what will happen. it depends on the situation on the ground. with regard to the question of whether or not we can solve everything by force, by

conflict, i would like to stay on the side of good, but just because you are a force of good does not mean that you are not of course of power. i think the forces of good must also be powerful enough to defend themselves. claire: for the latest from moscow, that's across live to jake "-- jake from the "moscow times." apart from what we just heard, he also spoke about the borders of the breakaway territories in eastern ukraine. how does putin define the borders of these areas? >> in a day a very consequential developments, putin's comments on the borders is perhaps one of the most consequential. vladimir putin effectively said that he recognizes the separatist claims which extend far into territory currently held by ukraine. the crux of the matter is that the separatists claimed that the old donetsk and luhansk regions,

they claim control over all of that, they say that as part of their jurisdiction. but two thirds of that territories under ukrainian control and has been carved with a line of contact, a cease-fire line, since fighting stopped in 2015. putin's claim that he backs those claims is a really dangerous instead, especially in the context of moscow preparing to send military troops and equipment into the region. putin received support from the parliament in moscow today to do just that. claire: putin also during a press conference said the minsk agreements no longer exist. how could that affect the situation on the ground? jake: putin really just saying what was clear from his announcement yesterday, but it is important that he is saying it so clearly. minsk agreements are that cease-fire deal which ended fighting in 2015. it drew the current de facto borders between what is controlled by the ukrainian

forces in kiev and the pro-russian separatists unit donates-- in donetsk and luhansk . this kills off the minsk agreement. that is concerning because the minsk agreement is the only framework for peace which currently exists in ukraine. without that there is really no framework to stop or to put in place a cap and the spike in shelling we have seen. it is a clear signal for putin personally that he is not that committed to a peaceful process. when you put all of that in context, you understand why we heard from nato chief jens stoltenberg who said right now we are facing perhaps the most dangerous moment for european security in a generation. claire: thanks for that update, jake cordell, reporting live for us from moscow. for more on this can we welcome to the program a senior fellow at the atlantic council and a

former spokesperson in ukraine for the organization for security and cooperation in europe. thank you so much for joining us on the program. i would like to take a closer look at ukraine, particularly in regards to its military. however ukraine's armed forces evolved since russia's annexation of crimea in 2014? are they better equipped to respond to potential invasion? michael: absolutely. when we arrived, crimea was illegally annexed in the opinion military -- flip-flops, poorly equipped. it was really something to see. but when you see them today complain much more proud, much more better equipped to much better trained. don't forget that a lot of nations including canada and the u.s. have been training the armed forces in western ukraine

for quite some time. much better. i'm not so sure about the command and control on the senior level, but you hear from the defense minister come from people like president zelensky, a real confidence that you would not have heard back then. i think -- one more thing, i have to add a lot of ordinary ingredients ready to step forward to defend the country. if need be, they are getting weapons licenses and doing training on weekends. that must be something that the russians are taking into account for ey invade further than that contact line. claire: another comparison to 2014, how has the west's response changed this time around? michael: today they are aware --

there was an operation -- revolution of dignity -- no, it's a very -- i think that -- on their side -- help -- over the past few -- tried to quickly -- take the speech from mr. putin. they don't fit -- plans to take more of ukraine. -- western ukraine -- since 2014

-- claire: all right, michael bociurkiw speaking to us. our apologies for the audio quality. thank you for joining us on the program tonight. ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky has said he is coming up reservists for a special period, but what about a general mobilization? this amid fresh shelling on the front line in eastern ukraine. some residents in the separatist-controlled territories are afraid, even evacuating to russia. but others have welcomed vladimir putin's decision to connect their regions as independent full -- recognize the regions as independent. reporter: a parade of russian tanks moving towards ukraine's eastern borders on tuesday morning. here in donetsk, a self

proclaimed breakaway state now agonized five letter new prudent, -- now recognized by vendor britain, a man joins the ranks of the separatist forces. , it will be over quickly can we hope. it has been going on a long time. reporter: the flag of the people's republic of donetsk sits alongside that of russia's, and the residents welcome putin's decision to recognize the state is independent of ukraine. >> it's a good decision. it's good for the people. >> i was waiting for putin to speak. it's great what he said. reporter: moving towards the front line, in this village situated just two or three kilometers from ukraine, the night was calm, unlike days from the past. this woman claims to be ukrainian but can isis--but recognizes donetsk's independence from russia. >> it should have been done a long time ago. to be that whatever but it strikes. look at these houses.

they are completely destroyed. reporter: the destruction is due to war which has been prevalent for eight years. russia is seen as a protector that can bring more than just independence the >> right now we are with the russian army. it can't get worse. it can only improve. we will have help and have hope. reporter: donetsk is holding its breath to find out what direct intervention russia announced could change for them. claire: our original correspondent has also been covering this for us on the ground. he sent us this report. reporter: i think that there are a lot of people on both sides who are feeling extremely afraid, whether they're simple these are pro-russian or pro-kiev, pro-ukrainian. extremely worried about the military action which looks extremely likely to take place as the so-called separatist

leaders try to retake territory they claim as theirs according to the so-called constitutions of the breakaway states of which they have russian support in trying to do. shelling continues as far as i am aware with the same level of intensity and has since last thursday. all along the front line in don basc, civilians on both sides are in danger. i think a lot of people on bh sides are very afraid and are thinking of leaving. from the separatist-controlled side, there have been evacuations. i spoke to a woman on the ukrainian-controlled site who told me she had no intention of leaving her home and out that she was planning to. claire: gulliver cragg reporting. it is time for business with kate moody. you have been watching how the markets and oil prices are reacting to the situation between russia and ukraine. kate: we have seen huge volatility as the tensions were building up. while there was choppy trade,

global stock market have taken the latest escalation roughly in--relatively in stride. wall street has closed lower but we saw stocks pairing back earlier, sharper losses. down 1% across the board for the dow, s&p 500, and the nasdaq. major european indices had a volatile session, but a mixed, relatively muted close. the ruble-dominated index in moscow plunged 6%, following monday's 10% drop, but did clawback some of the earlier losses as well. oil prices were trading at their highest levels in 8 years, brent crude planning is highs $99 before settling close to 97. i spoke to an interactive investor about what she expects from oil prices in the short term. >> it's been interesting to see brent crude come within a whisper of that psychological

round number of $100 mark, hitting 8-year highs today. it looks as though the geopolitical risk premium could spur further gains for wti and brent crude in the sessions ahead, particularly if the tensions continue to escalate. a member, we are operating on a backdrop of already very tight conditions in the energy markets. we are seeing supercharged demand after covid, coupled by limited supply on the back of opec plus, which has been drip feeding the market with extra supply. the fundamentals support and up trend with or without the geopolitical tensions. we are looking at it would possibly towards 110 or even $120 a barrel. kate: during geopolitical crises we see investors are flocking to the so-called safe haven investments. where do we stand there? pr>> it's interesting to see

that gold is catching a bit as well as silver. precious metals have been benefiting along with the japanese yen. we are seeing investors looking for ways to protect their wealth amidst the volatility that we have seen in equities and volatility in oil. it looks as though there is precious metals unlikely to state in favor among investors. we have seen gold push above $1900. potentially heading up to 2000s in the week ahead if we continue to see the uncertainty. there is a real nervous od in the markets. in january and before the tensions between russia and ukraine, it was already a lot of nervousness abouthe prospect of inflation and prospect of tightening monetary policy, higher interest rates. now we are adding these geopolitical tensions to add to the katella pressures in the markets. kate: daria scholar speaking to us earlier. germany's decision to halt the

process for the notes from two gas pipeline, completed in september but not approved by european authorities or put into service. it links germany to russia, and if it is fully operational, it is designed to carry 15% of the eu's annual gas imports. it would be worth $15 billion to gazprom, the russian state owned company which operates it. the pipeline has always been controversial, but it has become a bargaining chip in the latest crisis. russia is europe's cap supplier of crude oil and natural gas. in recent months it has been cused of slowing dowsupplies and that is contributed to soaring energy prices in europe. the european commission said today that europe's energy supply will not be affected by the decision, but with the chances oford stream 2 coming into operation now seeming more remote than ever, the eu will step up its efforts to become less dependent on russian energy supplies. russia's financial sector is also facing international sanctions, as outlined by the

u.s., u.k., and eu. the sanctions cut off a number of banks from transactions which use dollars from euros, or pounds. western allies have targeted russia's sovereign debt as well, meaning the russian government itself cannot trade bonds on european or american markets either. perhaps the most extreme move which some analysts described as the nuclear option would be to cut russian backed off from the swift system, a belgian-based messaging system that connects 11,000 financial institutions in 200 countries around the world wasn't being disconnected makes it extremely hard to send or receive money internationally. iran's banks were banned from swift in 2012. excluding russia from swift would cause its economy to shrink 5%, but we are not there yet. there could be another round of sanctions as threatened by joe biden should vladimir putin take any more aggressive moves. as i say, claire, we are not yet

at that point. we did hear joe biden saying we are taking these moves to really target russia's economy but be aware could have impact back at home. he and european leaders are going to be taking moves to limit that, but particularly when it comes to energy prices and prices at the pump, could see an impact to these moves. claire: kate moody from our business desk, thank you for that analysis. moving onto day 2, our focus report which takes us to iraq. decades of conflict have made the country a high bid for trafficking, from weapons to drugs to wild animals. our iraq correspondent reports. >> there is two endangered species here. the big bird is endangered species committee very endangered species. reporter: he is an animal rights activist in iraq.

every friday morning he comes to this market in baghdad to spot animals that are not supposed to be sold here, endangered and vulnerable species. reporter: these birds are victims approaching. they are in--victims of poaching . buying these have become very popular among iraqis. it remains very easy to get your hands on these animals in the markets. >> police, they can go and come back a see what happening here in this market and they see that the species and endangered species here and wild animals here, but they don't do anything, they don't talk about these things, they don't stop the hunters.

even they don't know about the law. as an activist, i talk with these sellers and hunters here and sometimes i get -- it's make like arguing between us, and it is so dangerous for me. reporter: no official figures exist on how extensive the trafficking is in iraq. without action by authorities, the poachers and traffickers are not facing any obstacles, except when it comes to importing animals across national borders. at the international airport, some of these wild animals are sometimes intercepted. last december 13 falcons appeared on this stream. >> the traffickers had wraed the birds in cellophane and hid them in a bag, injecting them with an anesthetic so they would be silent and wouldn't move. we spotted them on screen during

the bag search. reporter: photos of the animals provided by the customs agent. they planned to sell them in dubai, according to authorities. on the black market, price can be several tens of thousands of euros. >> the traffickers do it for the money, or for fun. the goal is to hunt. reporter: in 2014, the country ratified a washington convention, an international text that regulates the trade of endangered species. according to the convention, sellers and buyers are required to obtain a certificate that treating animal will not from the survival of the species. however, the problem also comes from them. in iraq, these establishments are authorized to resell these animals individuals without any questions asked. it makes trafficking the animals

extremely difficult if not impossible. we arrange a meeting with a veterinary clinic in baghd to say that we nted to buy a small tiger or lion and we went with a hidden camera. reporter: reporter: for about 4000 euros from we can buy a white lion, a species now threatened with extinction. they didn't even ask for id's. just like many other countries in the middle east commit many people are buying these exotic animals. social-media stars also joining the rank. for some it is relatively easy a process. this mental does the story under the condition of anonymity. >> the covid panama, someone

called me, someplace in baghdad. maybe they have 100 animals from different species. the worker told me sometimes they took the animals and just shoot him in the leg, just running, to laugh. reporter: we have to why he didn't call the police. >> related to -- you know that someone wnent to this place and told him my name and the place of my work. i told the story of the lion. reporter from entertainment to po show off, animals being tortured to them being resold,

everything seems possible in iraq. the lack of effective enforcement has allowed owners and traffickers to continue these activities. claire: you are watching "live from paris." don't go away. we will be back in just a moment. >> thanks very much for joining us. >> almost 99 million of you watch us every week, so thank you. >> your confidence means a lot to us. >> thank you.

♪♪ ♪♪ -in a small town above palermo stands one of sicily's great art treasures -- the cathedral of monreale. ♪♪ in the 11th century, when the muslim arabs

were tossed out by the christian normans, the normans made sicilian civilization grander yet, building monumental norman churches. this massive church, so richly ornamented, shows the glory of that age. ♪♪ ancient columns and capitals, gifted by the pope to bolster his southern border of christendom, were shipped here all the way from rome. ♪♪ the church was built to show off the power of the norman king, william ii, shown here boldly standing while being crowned by christ. the interior is famous for its exquisite 12th-century mosaics. each panel tells a story from the bible. there's adam and eve being tempted by the serpent, angels climbing jacob's ladder, and noah building his ark and filling it with animals.

♪♪ it was designed to function as a bible storybook. for centuries, early christians debated whether or not images were appropriate in church. to solve this controversy, called the iconoclastic controversy, a pope called a convention -- the council of nicaea in the 8th century. the result -- images are okay if they teach the christian message. here at the cathedral of monreale, the art is laid out precisely as the council prescribed.

[captioning made possible by democracy now!] 02/22/22 02/22/22 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> i consider it necessary to make a long-overdue decision to immediately recognize the independence of the sovereignty of the donetsk and luhansk people's republic. amy: russian president vladimir putin has sent troops into two separatist regions in eastern ukraine shortly after recognizing them as independent states.