major events are expected on the international arena who are asking sergey lavrov the foreign minister of russia. to security conference in munich will see russia and the us exchange the start if occasion papers signed by presidents that have an obama this document will provide stability and we can be confident but we won't see an arms race wellat least not in the next ten years and while it's quiet in the west the arab this is a serious concern for russian diplomacy the unrest which started in tunisia spread over the region like wildfire the great situation is in egypt where hundreds of thousands of people have been rallying to force the long serving president out of office. and welcome to the show thank you very much for being with us well first of all i want to say that i have a lot of questions to you and our viewers our listeners wrote facebook and they also have a lot of questions which are more personal so what we start with politics of

personal you choose politics ok. egypt israeli politicians claim that the overthrow of mubarak in egypt may lead to action is and that this may not be really a democratic process but the other way around and that it will threaten the peace process in the middle east you have some of the fears not well first i believe we the russians have had enough revolutions in the history don't think. devise to our friends would be to hurt revolutions of their own it's always bloody it's always messy it was throws the country back in its development so speaking of fidget digitals i was thirty japan we want egypt to be a stable democratic prosperous and for this needs peace and. well peace first of all inside its own country and we hope very much that the

gyptian it's very wise people. there along very she story. would be able to sit down and to decide peacefully how to get out of this situation . i don't think any outsiders. should really be pushing good ship through one way or another i don't think any suggestions from outside going to be helpful and the going to lead to a sustainable resolution of the situation i don't think that official deadlines that if ultimatums are you know there and i strongly believe that the egyptian political forces political groups must themselves find their way out we would be watching the situation closely also because there are a lot of russian citizens tourists but also those who reside in the egypt dominant

and we approached on that was it was egyptian leadership it was egyptian authorities we approached them. emphasizing that we believe that all necessary measures to ensure the safety and security of the russian people would be. taken and of course recalled that the tourists would. heed the appeal not to go to egypt. to wait until the situation gets quiet we cannot pressure a bit of citizens to travel but i will very strong recommendation. to do the deed later. let's say yes i did not mention the new bill the settlement aspect of your question you know. probably there is no direct link between the deadlock in the peace negotiations and what is going on in egypt but not only in

egypt that even if it is an active member of the go see action process well it is a key regional power and is very instrumental for quite a number of negotiations including the negotiations between israelis and palestinians but also including. the negotiations between the factions in palestine palestinian reconciliation is something egypt has been trying to promote and we hope very much that egypt would keep its key role in this process but what i want to emphasize over there is no direct link between what is going on beer and into news. on the on the one hand and the peace process but i am convinced that the stakes have never been higher than today including for israel and the sooner peace process resumes the sooner

a settlement would be shaped less. unstable the region is going to be that's my conviction and i certainly believe that the meeting go because it the minister sobek what it in munich this weekend with address this problem very seriously there is no time left to waste we must. do something to resume the peace talks so let's stay in the middle east since we started talking that the middle east peace process in january president medvedev visited visited jordan and palestine and he said that thing that sounded since they should all because they're the world hasn't heard anything like that from the russian leader says. sure i guess here's what he said russia supports an independent palestinian state well if only garcia actions efforts. fail there will russia's support for you when

membership for the palestine without israel's consent well full un membership is a process to get be are immune you have to go through the security council and then through the general assembly. and i don't believe it was a sensational statement by president did it because an independent palestinian state was a capital in these jerusalem. because something is something which the security council of the united nations has and those three people in the resolution supported by all permanent members the problem is that this vision is not being stressed is not being implemented in practice and sometimes people shy away from reiterating it but we are convinced that unless we want to have a permanent and deepening conflict in the region this must be the solution and we call upon israel is to recognize this and not to drag on.

in the negotiations to sit down with the palestinians on the basis of the international legal framework indoors by the security council and this legal framework among other things demands that all unilateral actions which prejudge the final settlement must be stopped and this includes settlement activities by israel and others the station i think thousand sensational from the russian president was when the other day he he. ordered the foreign ministry to take the human rights advocates opinion into account why dealing with look at shank over belarus what does it mean can you comment and well this means that russia is a member of the international community. which includes united nations organization security and cooperation in europe which includes the council of europe and there

are certain standards indorsed by all of us there are a commitment to reach we all subscribe and we want this commitments to the north and to be respected. you know what happened in belarus immediately after the elections there arrests of the candidates to the presidential position the rest of the human rights activists the rest of journalists russian citizens by the way the russian citizen still remain in custody and this is an acceptable the accusations are not. looking very serious frankly speaking and we try to get more clarity from our below russian colleagues the council of europe committee of ministers considered this issue a couple of weeks ago and there was the resolution unanimously adopted was the russian active support and participation demanding to be below russian authorities

to release the candidates the presidency of the human rights activists and journalists from prison and to respect european values and principles there is nothing there is nothing strange in this situation yes the bill of rights is old brotherly country bill reeses overthrew the egypt but in the context of the customs union common economic space collective security treaty organization but this does not mean that we should close our eyes on violations of the basic human rights and freedoms. so. this is also be the position which for size of that russia is not going to be guided by double standards and this also applies to human rights protection and respect inside the russian federation minister at a news conference in istanbul recently held jointly with the turkish foreign minister you characterize sanctions against iran as counterproductive and you

express tell that they would be lifted does it mean that russia alongside me with turkey and brazil may raise this issue at the u.n. security council well not exactly. we have said that sanctions normally do not work but sometimes they become inevitable and in the case of the last the resolution of the security council which was adopted last july this was the case sanctions became inevitable because all approaches all calls upon the ron to resume negotiations was the five plus one group. or not he did and iran continued to avoid responding to the international community requests requests which were. promoting closer cooperation between the run and i say in order to close the issues to reach remain on the table and reach important to

clarify to make sure that the iranian nuclear program is entirely peaceful but that does not mean that having indorse that resolution now we can only look at tightening the sanctions drip at this particular moment we believe that the sanctions threat because been basically exhausted more sanctions would mean that the international community wants to suffocate the iranian economy and create a humanitarian crisis in iran we cannot subscribe to this says foreign minister sergey lavrov spotlight will be that short. so break so stay with us that will go. we use special old french and accents recruitment. they are

ready for replay. to going off one. became the brevity. of the situation and those people who have merged in their previous life. want to so many in a free flight. the more people we killed the happier our officers were it got to be like a game like to see who could kill the most people and the different ways you could prove me keep the skilled looking i tell you know here's someone serious you know where they have the most years they will get the most fierce in changing you should be reduced overnight human children in five men around the circle over know on full automatic whether i'm sixty. two same outraged by six or seven people.

most of those. welcome back to the spotlight on melbourne oven just a reminder that my guest in the studio today is foreign minister of russia said again a lot of it off. well we will get back to some foreign policy issues in a couple of minutes but first i have to to read some of the questions we got we got on facebook the questions that our listeners and viewers were sending to you when they found out that you were going to be my guest on the show well question one you literally live on a plane and i know you do so you call it a life. well i call it a life they have no other choice. your family well they don't mind their minds so

they somehow learn to cope with it you know i think so you have a reputation of being a very independent person who writes now is from single point does he does he still believe in freedom and what's he doing about it when i do believe in freedom i don't know what the gentleman had in mind of. that supposed to be a very independent person being a minister you cannot really be independent you're a member of the government you implemented the foreign policy which is determined by the president and if you don't do this you cannot be minister. being independent in the sense of trying to have some time for myself yes and whenever i have a chance like to meet with my friends i like to play football i like to do downhill skiing and also to go white water rafting in siberia was my it was my company

that's the legend you rafting is later this is a true you still don't have a phone on you when you rafa. we used not to take a satellite phone which sometimes by the way ok when when people say you have a reputation of being independent i think you earned this reputation when you were at. representing russia in the u.n. and here's another letter i remember lover i was rare with the un homme charles about not being allowed to smoke in the u. n. building and ask him if he ever tried to quit smoking so i smoke much less than i did before. and i think this is healthy as for the. question relates to. i wasn't actually revolting i was insisting that the decisions of the general assembly be respected because smoking

areas in the un building have been subject to a decision by the general assembly and that's as for as for. being independent during my years in the united nations if what is meant is being independent from pressure from any other member of the security council then yes that was the case you called the wiki leaks funny fiction well did you really enjoy reading it and any other comments except funny. well i think fine and fine in fiction is the main characteristic awful for what they feel reading great critics i don't read much sometimes my assistants find an interesting piece in the vehicle leaks which relates to the episodes dissipated for example or russian leaders participated and then i think they can look and just. see whether

what was publicly said what was said to us by the potus whether this is corresponding to reflect that in their reports back home so you do find truth in a week at least i find some of it well i find sometimes deviations in what is reported so they could get them. from what was said to us. it helps in the diplomatic work well. ok now wiki leaks actually was lost a couple of years ago when your phone conversation with the your u.k. opposite number was made public by the british press this was extraordinary and this was very extravagant can you tell us what exactly did you say to david miller and what i said to david miliband was equitation from another foreign minister who visited me just after the war in the caucasus and that and who was

coming from georgia and he shared with me his views of presidency like a should. and i just informed the minute what exactly was said about president saakashvili by my count but it was bad language it was a well the rest of it would be i would comment on ok and a question from facebook jury in the communist era have you mr lavrov been a member in that communist party if yes what made you change your political views yes i was a member of the communist party. i was a member of the party until. the last day of the party. and i still have the memory my party card i pay the. dues monthly until the last moment and then the party ceased to exist to be the member of the

party. frankly speaking we all know that being a member of the common aspired to involve some cynicism. and some primitive them as well was being a member of the communist party and before that of komsomol people couldn't really count on the dysentery especially if the option was diplomacy. almost almost nature of the i never thought that there should be any other way. when i was in komsomol and then and. by the way being a member of the party i was the head. of the soviet foreign ministry and the young communist league sort of yes yes and just drive you know as young communist leaders of the foreign ministry to have some fun if you wish we organized events being sports be just. the troops.

on weekends. some sketches were staged dances. and this this helped you know to bring people together. to make life a bit more interesting you mentioned. staging things i know you play guitar i know you sing i know you love beatles but as a frenchman he is i'm a frenchman do you like french popular i love french popular news like who. is my favorite. song many of us last question from facebook what's your favorite why. i think i think i am when i read this question i put here scotch because i know you love scotch scotch is ok but also like wine and venture terry and me russian. i don't want. to be

a light. and i think i'm in a good. chili ga ga i like sight better if it is the real security but also of course california. for. they don't export much but but they have very good ways ok let's get back to we have some i have time for a couple of foreign affairs issues president medvedev recently said i quote nato is faced with a dial m. it either enters a joint missile defense system with russia or has to put up with new russian strategic deployments close to europe and quote would you agree that the creation of a joint russian night defense network is the number one challenge for russian diplomacy this year well i think it's

a challenge to all of the countries in the your atlantic. it's a test if you wish on common the bill it's the thought that it was the remnants of the cold war to come from declarations of indivisibility of security to practical implementation of this slogan and missile defense is indeed of huge importance because if the managed to do it right you finish the genuinely joint project then i think we will come a long way towards achieving that goal which was at the lisbon summit namely to become strategic partners basically we have two elements in our position first this system must be equal and. second this system must not create any risks for the strategic

arsenals of the russian federation eve this. resolved positively believe we will achieve. success but if you fail and if negotiations be to be in nato would only be used as a cover for nato american missile defense system which ignores the russian interests then of course. we would have no other choice but to take measures to protect those last question one of the main threats one of the main challenges for russian security coming from from the south is the drug traffic from afghanistan we have been hearing from nato representatives that if we try to fight drug production of get us then this puts people out of work and they join the taliban so it is bad for for establishing establishing the peace process there how

do you cope with that do you agree with such a position you know i don't believe that american colleagues become a bit more aware of the need to fight. production throughout the chain you know starting from the poppy plantations and into the street dealers. for example in colombia the americans boots them for says on the ready caging the cocoa plantations and they don't really raise the issue of colombian peasants getting out of work. everything is possible we cannot allow. the drugs from of gonna stand to ruin. population population of central asian countries population a few would be and countries. and some of it of course gets to be united states itself. the presidents must receive compensation no doubt about it

it's much more difficult than just that they'll them continue to grow. with. your leave but the presence must receive assistance they must receive financial material assistance the must be no excuse you know not to block each element of the drug production shape thank you mr thank you very much for being with us and just a reminder that my guest today was foreign minister of the russian federation. and that's it for now from all of us if you want to have your say on spotlight you can always. be back with more on what's going on outside russia. and take a seat. it's

official the new strategic arms reduction treaty between moscow and washington is in force the two sides extreme ratification documents. egypt's ruling party leadership resigns but protesters say they'll stay on the streets of kabul gives up the presidency. as the prime minister says multiculturalism in the u.k. has failed so one british town sees similar tavi as rallies by and seek fascist and anti islamic factions. a very warm welcome to you this is live from moscow i'm alice had heard a historic russia u.s.

nuclear disarmament deal has finally come into force that a high profile security conference in munich the long negotiated treaty means moscow and washington will cut the number of their warheads to around one of a half how's the d.h. was going off is in germany. words put into action a historic exchange of ratification documents and the new strategic arms reduction treaty between moscow and washington is officially in force and when it comes to the button that has worried us the most over the years the one that would unleash nuclear destruction today we take another step to ensure it will never be pushed. to last for the next ten years the treaty said to reduce the number of nuclear weapons on both sides over a third an outcome which would have appeared impossible even a decade ago i think we will be presented with this historical.