nuclear negotiations dominate talks as russian president dmitry medvedev sits down with his you're reading counterpart ramadan the jog on the sidelines of a key regional summit in azerbaijan. president obama has lawmakers on capitol hill not to say trying to be ratification of the nuclear arms accounts treaty between moscow and washington clinton and national security imperative. president obama is trying to push his arguably major foreign policy achievement through the senate i'm going to check out in washington d.c. i'll be back with more in just a few moments. and also to you as the ledge that began drawing a big to boot claims u.s.

officials tried to force him into admitting to all the smuggling charges while being extradited from bank called to. moscow says it will continue providing all necessary support to victor boot but does not proclaim whether the russian citizen is innocent or guilty. news for russia and iran the world this is all see with me thanks for joining us for the first time russia box u.n. sanctions against iran president medvedev has met with the iranian leader mahmoud ahmadinejad medvedev said russia will continue helping tehran develop a peaceful atomic program the two were meeting at a summit of the five nations bordering the caspian sea all of whom have claims to the seas boss and there's your resources he's got this going off now reports. well

a meeting between the presidents of russia and iran is surely one of the biggest highlights of the summit since it's the first time that they've met since russia back to the latest set off during sanctions on iran and also cancel the shipment of the ass three hundred air defense systems a move which was strongly criticized by iran and caused a significant a significant chilling in relations between the two countries after the meeting with her that this was a positive meeting and that both presidents were not afraid to talk about complicated and even unpleasant issues and of course iran's controversial nuclear program was discussed and moscow says that it's keen to get a clearer picture of iran's of views on the situation and also explain its position in order to try to move the dispute from the deadlock it's currently in russia and iran are neighbors in the caspian region and to moscow says that it's also keen to continue cooperation with iran in many other spheres like peaceful nuclear energy

just remind you russia built the bush era nuclear power plants for iran and also even a military trade as well if these arms the sold on this don't fall under the latest set of the same president outlined a new job the iranian leader said to that these this latest set of sanctions is ineffective and also called the international community to stop what he called was aggression one talking about iran's nuclear program if it wanted to this a long standing dispute to finally come to an end well let me just tell you a little bit about the caspian sea itself first of all the caspian sea is extremely rich in natural resources we're talking about up to twenty billion tons of oil and gas that's comparable with deposits in the persian gulf also up to ninety percent of the global sturgeon catch is done here as well and during soviet times the sea was shared between the soviet union. and you're right on but after the collapse of

the u.s.s.r. new new independent states emerged in the region and obviously everybody wants a piece of the plywood however the sea still hasn't been officially divided and this is the third such summit of the summit of the caspian nations it's meant to figure out how to divide the sea and to build up enough fissile status for. the decisions taken at the summit are quite important and do it to the lives of millions of people living in the in the bounding countries u.s. president barack obama has held a bipartisan meeting in the white house to emphasize the importance of passing the nuclear arms cut treaty with russia before the year's end a bomb has already told the vice president to work night and day to get the votes needed to ratify the start deal and he also spoke of the critical importance of good relations with moscow when dealing with iran and afghanistan also he's going

to check out and has more from washington for us. obama said down with senators both democrat and republican to once again explain why the treaty needs to be ratified now is that what's at stake now is the u.s. national security and there's nothing more important for this lame duck session as this senate's time in office is running out the start treaty tensions reached their peak earlier a key republicans are can go here in the senate jon kyl said that there are very important things to do now in the senate and shouldn't run wash on the treaty ratification what's on the line now is arguably obama's major foreign policy achievement obama once again made it clear the start treaty is the milestone of the reset in u.s. washable nations the reset which as has been paris lee reminding resulted in critical cooperation from moscow on of ghana's stand and iran's the new start treaty is also a cornerstone of our relations with russia. and this goes beyond nuclear security russia has been fundamental to our efforts for strong sanctions in place to put

pressure on iran to deal with its nuclear program it's been critical in supporting our troops in afghanistan through the northern distribution network it's been critical in working with us to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world and to enhance european security there's an understanding that further cooperation plans could go south without this treaty this key trading place the start is not just about reducing both country's nuclear arsenals by a third it's seen as a symbol of trust between the two nuclear superpowers many capitol hill observe a save the debate is really not no longer about the content of the treaty but rather about flexing political muscle there is a huge five partisan support for the treaty among experts but not on the hill today we heard the head of russians they do four of the nations committee does i think of such will say the treaty is too important to be

a victim of political bickering it will be. responsibility for the american port it will be the responsibility for the senate and the port of the senate which will oppose the certification and i do not want to to to believe in these respective because it is too dangerous it is too fun forgivable so to see in terms so for the global security we are both the united states and russia have a special responsibility to reach it can not be related to the interests of a certain political parties which may be the case in the ongoing discussions in the streets. and many capitol hill observers here in washington say the whole of the basestar ratification debate now comes down to the question whether some republican senators are ready to undermine the lane marked treaty which to most experts represents common sense just for the sake of picking on obama maters poised for

a crucial summit in lisbon this weekend to map out missile defense its strategy in afghanistan in the entire role of the alliance the presidents of russia and the u.s. will meet that russia's an avoider nato says while moscow and the line seven live in close on some a she's common ground on nonproliferation and missile defense in europe still needs work nato secretary-general anders fogh rasmussen told r.t. but watch us participation in the european security system will be talked about seriously at the session. and nato will decide to develop a nato based missile defense system at the summit and of course we can't expect the russian president to give an answer just a few hours after after a nato decision but what we will do at the nato russia meeting in lisbon is to initiate a joint analysis of how nato russia corporation and research defense could be implemented and that would be a very very positive step forward saw. i think the nato

russia meeting in lisbon will be a very positive and very productive meeting. and you can see the full interview with anders fogh rasmussen and spotlight with al gore no that's later here on out. while some experts do not shatter the optimistic expectations of the native chief political writer diana johnston is skeptical about the chances of the alliance and russia cooperating successfully in the future especially in areas such as missile defense i don't see how really they can work together unless it's completely on the terms that are said by the united states and i think that this offer is simply to quell any objections that might exist in europe that were offending russia but in fact i think it's a perfect example of the way the administration says two things that are opposite all the time we want to be friendly but we're building up our defenses we

were going to get rid of nuclear weapons we're going to develop some more i don't see that the united states has decided that it's pointless to have confrontation with russia why then is it building up forces in the arctic. bringing canadian and scandinavian forces whose only purpose could be to confront russia over resources in the arctic the united states is carrying out military maneuvers in the baltic clear whose only opposition could be russia and the black sea so i don't see you really that the united states has decided that confrontation with russia is pointless again it's a double thing they say one thing and they do another since it's a big bureaucracy the pentagon you don't really know exactly what the policy is. coming up in the program out of the frying pan into the fire. the people around

them and and ultimately deportation from some e.q. countries later the new challenges waiting for them in bulk area. time to quit russians officially light up more than any other nation on up find out what's being done to kick the habit that's threatening to slowly kill the country. alleged gun brown a big to boot claims has been proved under severe pressure by u.s. authorities to confess to crimes he says he didn't commit has been accused of conspiring to kill american citizens and servicemen foreign minister sergei lavrov says russia warns of the trial for its citizens marina portnoy has more from new york. the case surrounding viktor bout has been quite a tug of war between russia and the u.s. and the presidential aide to dmitri medvedev recently spoke out saying that the charges that the u.s. have leverage against the russian citizen and a serious and russia would like for those charges to be thoroughly investigated and

russia is providing assistance to victor boot but russian officials have underscored the fact that that does not mean or should not be translated into a meeting that moscow believes victor boot is innocent or guilty they are just trying to make sure that everything is going according to plan and no laws are being violated and russian officials also said that they have nothing to hide in this circumstance the situation they're being very transparent and some have accused the u.s. of not being very transparent when it comes to picture boots extradition from thailand to new york you're what you're. willing to stress to the u.s. authorities of some very serious improved. russian citizen we have nothing to can sue we do consider this case is anything of the we want to see this investigation. all the questions raised by the u.s.

he will be given. students who were there the me we are claiming he's innocent you move to moscow is also accusing washington of double standards and we have to remember boot forty three year old russian citizen is being accused of smuggling weapons to fork rebels that would have been used to kill americans yet russian officials say that washington did provide georgia with several weapons many weapons that were used during the war in. which hundreds of civilians were killed so obviously a very contentious and sensitive situation surrounding victor right now many are speculating about. the fact of whether we can get a fair trial in the us to russian diplomats did visit with mr blewitt in the federal prison where he's being held in lower manhattan one russian diplomat said that he he is right now in ok circumstances he was the fifty hydrated he's being

held in solitary confinement mr booth said that his all of his funds were essentially stolen while he was held in prison in thailand for more than two years boot is alleging and says that during his extradition flight from thailand to the u.s. u.s. officials had tried to pressure him to admit to the charges that have been leverage against him and in return they promised him some privileges said that he did not give in to what they wanted and so at this point he is now in solitary confinement in a federal prison the u.s. attorney had also held a press conference outlining the charges against victor boot and let's take a listen to what exactly they are now stands charged in this district the southern district of new york with four charges one conspiring to kill united states

nationals two conspiring to kill united states officers and employees three conspiring to use and acquire anti-aircraft missiles and for conspiring to provide material support to the fork will be in court in early january that's the next time scheduled to take place. rather people are facing growing prejudice across europe some e.u. countries blame the community for rising crime and tackle it by deporting them but whether roma this is haitian in their native countries is appalling many live in slums and are unable to access basic services also is daniel bushell reports now from bulgaria. seems like greece could become common across europe the mayor of this town in southern belle garrett told r.t. he had to tear down this block of flats because the room the residents had turned it into a slum. this pile of rubble is all that's left of the housing estate what also it is called

a public health hazard infested with rats cockroaches and fleas thousands of roma called their home. so we've moved to this wasteland no shelter health care or education for the children. well we don't know where your citizens where does a treatise like this schools won't take my son because he has lice and disease people here ask is this what the e used become with winter approaching they'll be sleeping in the cold. first to you politicians bury their heads in the sand but only we can solve their own problems a lot of good. friends to sent tens of thousands of roma back to bulgaria sweden it's a lead their mark in germany had similar policies they use justice commissioner says it reminds her of world war two one of the evicted told me he picks pockets to feed his family member countries report rumor offenses are shooting up pushing rising numbers into angry and t.j. see groups the biggest problem with the jets this is the crime already here like

a civil war there are stealing or else or for a train seriously the life of the people campaign is one that most room must stand by france and other states can't integrate as there aren't enough jobs for them and ball giri up with education opportunities limited music remains one of their few past success. a racy gypsy style of pop called child tops the chops but campaigners say ethnic conflicts are set to surge until the e.u. learns to live and work with roma not just enjoy the music in the nightclubs the new bushel party saffir. so more international news for you this hour the governor of the central bank says he expects the country to accept a substantial load as part of the new bailout package could be terms of billions of euros it all comes after the eurozone finance ministers vowed to support the

country with its trunk of the economy should double to request help the markets have been spooked by fears some small of the country's own capable of paying back their debts. the fast growing town of a bay prison and to be tried in the u.s. civil court has been found guilty on just one counterterrorism he was facing over two hundred eighty of the thirty six year old ahmed ghailani was convicted for his involvement into attacks on american embassies in africa in one nine hundred eighty in one nine hundred ninety eight when more than two hundred people were killed lani will now get at least twenty years in prison going ton of account has faced constant worldwide criticism of revelations of torture and abuse of detainees. for members of the same family clearly a fifteen month old girl have been killed in a landslide in colombia it was triggered by continued have a downed poles the rain has been particularly bad this year in the south american nation claiming the lives of hundred and thirty eight people so far homes and roads

have been damaged in twenty eight other sensitive colombian provinces. it's official russia has the most smokers per capita in the world the statistics just released are yet another reminder to the government that it needs to operate game to help people quit and as often as stated by those reports they're not taking this battle lying down. brief but graphic the world health organization and the russian government are hitting the airwaves with a campaign meant to stamp out cigarettes. in a nation where a pack of smokes is sometimes cheaper than a bottle of water a new study shows that more people live here than anywhere else in the world more than half of all men do and number is smaller among women a twenty five percent but it's growing according to the world health organization diseases associated with addiction kills nearly five hundred thousand russians every year about forty seven percent of small cars who are smokers today they start small given the age of fifteen sixteen and the said thank is that tobacco industry

knowing all this provides very glamorous and to get advertising the government is taking action by banning cigarette ads and cigarette promotions in t.v. and film beginning in two thousand and eleven lawmakers are also pondering the possibility of making it more expensive to puff prime minister putin is asking legislators to lead by example a case of who among government members smokes one two three three we have better statistics than in the countries nuns change at least on this issue. among us but i think they'll try to quit smoking won't they. what are you going to do to fight smoking a pain you should sit your owning some records like quitting. i wish to state what are you laughing at you smoke to you've got to quit to have. some call the government's anti smoking efforts and overzealous infringement of their rights the

cool thing is that it's wrong to greater waterbury from small cannot hold his like ben in you from where is cause no i won't care if there is a ban as smoke if i want to smoke. more and more measures are on the way including a complete public ban on smoking in bars and restaurants set to take place by two thousand and fifteen so you know what it's like when you go out and like your favorite perfume or cologne but by the end of the night it's like you just rolled out of them that is as true. this was from a vision. to be able to tell that the air is clear that's because what moscow's first mochrie bar so you could smell the same way going out as you did coming in marbella is the baby able. has been cigarette free for four years his aim is to have a fashionable place where nonsmokers can breathe easy with money look at the experience of european countries profit depends on whether one likes it here or not

if i can create a couzin relaxed atmosphere and make people here feel joy and be merry i will earn my money. so for some muscovites the smoke free future is now. stacy didn't r.t. . our global heavyweights have been working to find a remedy to the walls economic strive at forums and they asia pacific region to discuss the situation with no obvious there is also a caught up with all the un journalists donald kirk to. the lot of.

how best to restructure global financial institutions like the world bank and the i.m.f. to better reflect today's economic landscape that's the challenge facing world leaders and businessmen and as tensions rise over the on going of the so-called currency war the related to see with global trade imbalances raising the risk of a move towards protectionism the pressure really is on to talk us through some of these challenges i'm not very p.c. i'm joined by. a correspondent from the christian science monitor. many thanks for being with us here on our team is to correct now we are in the midst of what's being dubbed a currency war with the u.s. and china really at loggerheads each accusing the other of currency manipulation do you think that there's a way out of this and well there may be

a way out of it but i'm not. certain that we're going to get out of it any time soon the g. twenty summit did not come out with any real consensus on currency balances they certainly came out with strong resolution that it's not good and they said volatility is not good and all this other stuff is not good but they didn't actually agree on a way to be on the way to resolve it aside from recognizing the problem and saying yes let's try to resolve it and then of course there's also the. issue of global trade imbalances do you think the u.s. is justified in asking export having countries like china and germany to curb their reliance on exports in order to to rebalance trade equipped well you know i don't know if the u.s. is justified but i will say the u.s. has a terrific trade deficit and the trade deficit with china is just enormous you know it's like trying to export several times as much as the u.s.

next. to china and so you know from an american point of view the u.s. has got to do something about this obviously the u.s. has to take care of a lot of domestic problems its own problems its own internal problems no doubt about that but they also have to lean on exports to raise the value of their currency to more realistic levels as president obama pointed out quite frankly in his press conference china intervenes heavily in the market to keep the you want to keep the renminbi the you want at a lower rate than it really should be so you know the u.s. has to do something and they've got to they've got to improve domestically and they've got to try to improve they've got to try to slash. you know surpluses of other countries i can't blame the us for for behaving that way and we don't want of the squabbling going on they do you think that there really is a danger that countries might be considered local to their reign if you like can

see that protectionist policies i think there's a real danger of that and the danger is not just countries elsewhere around the world of the dangers of in the u.s. the american congress might get protectionist if this goes on they're not going to get protectionist right away they're not going to get protectionist next year the next congress is not going to be protectionist but over the years protectionist sentiment could certainly build and finally the congress would say ok keep out all this foreign stuff you know that's decrease all these imports i'm not saying that's good that that part is not. in fact that's a real danger that's not a solution that's a danger but that could happen and also other countries could certainly respond with protectionist measures of their own a lot of countries already have protectionist measures one of one sort or another and how would you gauge global reaction to that shock announcement we recently had from the federal reserve that it was going to a ball on the faq and rounds of quantitative easing the six hundred billion. told

is being pumped into the economy we have some partial christmas coming out from a developing economy saying that this seriously war that could haunt them all but also from countries like germany right right that was a shocker. the u.s. federal reserve announced that it was buying treasury bonds worth six hundred billion dollars and this was on top of the previous purchase of treasury bonds worth one point seven billion dollars this is an invitation for the u.s. to print ever more one hundred dollar bills you know there are some people who are not quite as critical to us as others but i don't recall anybody applauding the u.s. move i don't recall anybody saying oh smart move i don't i don't think i don't think anybody said that there were some people who were not critical but they didn't they didn't they didn't they were not in favor either you know. many thanks for joining us here good to be with you thank you.

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