united states the day president obama and thereby making further steps to get rid of nuclear arsenals do you think we will ever come to a world without nuclear weapons. we must do it and i believe that sooner or later we will get there but to get there we have to put the world back in order first nuclear arsenals were significantly reduced thanks to our efforts during perestroika today when the world is so divided we need to find things that bring us together for instance the g. twenty is a step which brings us closer it's an instrument a mechanism for handling the hardest and most challenging issues but we need more than that it's a matter of learning to live in a global world being healthy. two years ago you and i discussed barack obama and that was during the elections before he became president and he said the united states needed its own perestroika and that obama seems to be the right man to carry it out has obama leave it up to your expectations of the president.

i think he's been doing a good job so far by the way i met with him when he was in moscow i told him your approval rating is still high that's great but remember as soon as you get to some real big issues it'll drop you should be ready for that he said i understand that i think the fact that he got his health care bill approved is terrific but rich republicans don't like it i admire him because when things got hot for example when they had to get the new start treaty ratified he got involved personally he talks to people and about twelve senators changed sides and sided with the democrats and eventually the treaty was ratified i wish him good luck what would you say is the difference between twentieth century and twenty first century politicians are really not depends on politicians we take as examples if we take hitler then every politician of the twentieth or the twenty first century is very different. him if

we talk about the one nine hundred eighty s. it was a time when we saw a large group of politicians from asia america and europe join forces to stop the nuclear arms race and begin disarmament with the ultimate goal of uniting the world i think we should give them credit for that it was a very interesting time because. i think it's what. some people consider you for number one politician of the twentieth century. always remember when you were number one there's a great responsibility that comes with that actually though you can't give a single politician credit for everything or there is always a group of people who realize the challenges of their time they understand what is going on in the world how to work up with what do you think has the potential to become a politician of the twenty first century. we'll have to wait and see no one you can name at this point. no i would not give that title to anyone for now they

have to earn it no one praised also until we walked the talk today's politicians are not even up to talking point yet but what matters is what they will do the steps they will take their policies we know from history that every time there was a new challenge and you leader would emerge sometimes they emerge too late after some damage was done we have to avoid that we have to act in time. too many people you create a major role in many important events the unification of germany the end of the cold war perestroika some people say that you are the one who brought down the soviet union you were awarded the nobel peace prize some say that you were at the last really a leader of our time what do you think is your most important legacy your voice i think it is the fact that the world is no longer divided that it is mostly free from ideological antagonism this is perhaps the most important thing this creates

conditions for further progress. people abroad love you and respect you a lot while russians on a different opinions about you what do you make of that fact that you are more appreciated and brought them in russia. i think it's normal after all i worked here in russia and the many things started here it wasn't always easy many things did not work out the way we planned at the beginning when we made our first mistakes but we didn't really explain to people what was going on and didn't get them involved in all those processes we were self-confident nor put in public politics i don't think we have ever lost a major battle. but about now what are your priorities in life for. my priority is to help people realize that there are other people around them and conduct themselves accordingly and in fact that's what religion teaches that you should help your neighbor and many people have this understanding they're willing

to help others support them. so the most important thing is to remember about other people and their problems are used. you're eighty the whole world is celebrating your birthday at the end of march in london few people can say i made this world a better place you can say that about yourself your children grandchildren great grandchildren what do you lack. for the horses. and there are a few things i didn't have time to do and i regret is that. i miss my wife who was my best friend and i lost her in this fierce battle it's hard you can't forget about things like that sometimes i look at people with a lot of money and they may have many wives many women when we were different we were very close to me and to be frank with you another thing i wish i had these days is good health well i wish you good health and many more happy birthday to you and thank you very much.

if. he has. to be. the. same. team speech to the country and republic. center of russian defense protection from the walls he heads to central russia from. the crafts become an industry. the harsh winter make schools even more enjoyable.

and where everyone can train to be a storm. so the young or small. russia playing soccer oxy. pulse or smog see echo of iraq as the u.k. considers military intervention in libya there are fears the ongoing violence without the trigger another disastrous campaign russia and other foreign governments and said they are against the move which involves you some international going to perform for us foreign policy has some americans questioning the country's ever changing political position which they say regularly season supporting the bad guys but with major shifts in power in parts of north africa or the middle east some americans fear the underestimate come from global influence from the last leader of the soviet union who celebrates his eightieth birthday. as the man behind the consolation of state censorship and the promotion of free speech

but some accuse him of paving the way for prescriptive and chaotic reform. put in forty five here in moscow wednesday night sport now kate scott the latest for you. hello welcome to the latest sports news and here are the headlines staying alive on our moscow and for other teams to have everything to play for after breezy united play off action in the k h l. while under the knife thirteen time grand slam winner so we know williams undergoes emergency surgery from love caught on how long i. am just in time world number one rafael nadal says he's fit to help spain in the davis cup opener against belgium. all the tennis news to come but first why saki where k h l regular season champions out i'm going to have lost for want times and if they

can make to trail streets in the first round of the playoffs the hosts were behind after just two minutes in eagle but you go with mr hugh make in front and go both sides netted in the second it was to score twice in the final period to wrap up their victory and take three two lead in their best of seven series else well that's a leg edged buglers you grab for three in overtime to also take that's three two lead. over doing the football now and also looking to bounce back from the disappointments of last sunday's carling cup final defeat as they have first opponents leyton orient in a cup fifth round replay the gunners all without dutch striker robin van persie and captain sets probably gas but the spaniards could return for the champions league tie against barcelona next week and this replay is one of two thirds round not just taking place this wednesday night but these loans there's also an probably tied as manchester city hosting fast on the winner of not much to face reading in the quarterfinals after the championship side stunned twenty eight others and won their

lunch tuesday night and that mills twenty six great gold is enough to send the royals into the six rounds. now picking up a red card doesn't usually benefit a football. all are but for blackburn skipper ryan nelsen it came as a blessing as the new zealand used the ensuing one match to return home and support his family after they survived last month's devastating earthquake in christchurch the center back percent after ring road was undefeated aston villa on saturday so nelson who also captains the national side returned to his home town where his father met him at the airport at least one hundred sixty people were reported dead after a powerful earthquake hit the city on february the twenty second thankfully nelson's family were all unharmed but the realisation was yet to dawn on him. the majority of doesn't seem real it seems surreal on t.v. you know it was. unbelievable or not you know i just i just feel for everybody retrograde through history she was somebody lost

a business or something like and. i'll be trying to do it came to help out in any form of tennis now and thirteen time grand slam winner serena williams has undergone an urgency operation in los angeles the american was reported to have had surgery on monday after doctors found a blood clot ones younger william sr will stay in hospital for further treatment the twenty nine year old has been out of action since kind of almost wimbledon title last july she cuts have the right foot on some glass in a restaurant glass so great i'm not trying to write a fantastic because of that injury suffered. last week. but on a happier night's current men's world number one rafael nadal is preparing to make his fully fledged come back from injury and the top right spang and says he is fit for his country's davis cup clash with belgium this weekend there's all picked up a mine a leg injury in the australian open quarter files in january and the sidelines ever

since but he now joins his spanish teammates as valid farah doll in the last eight match in melbourne along with fernando verdasco and flip the on a look at davis cup opener awaits a belgian spirit and show our full time former champions spain only fire it's to make the last eight however the returning adult that's over for them i'm fine i already. started back as a few weeks ago so happy to be back on the competition by going on important competition like clay davis. for sure is a is a motivation we work on on the team i'm for. sure going to be difficult on foundation immensely as well as your. now ukraine's boxing champion vitaly klitschko has once again thrown down the gauntlet stu's fellow champion david haye saying there's hardly any way that britain can wriggle out of a fight without losing his dignity the holder of the w.b.c.

heavyweight belt spoke to master class he was holding the training capital kiev over here taking the country to make it sometimes after the clinic to go is one of the few possible opponents to hate his younger brother was the mayor was also on the short list pay is going to retire on his thirty first birthday on the thirteenth of october and the w.b. a child in wants to fight on july the second both of which both brothers have shared job before then the tally is still very to go against hate. believe you david haye has backed himself into a corner and she will not escape if you leave excuses now we have a second chance at this fight should take place if it doesn't happen then do it he is a coward or you will go to the cricket now and kevin i brian hit the fastest century in world cup history as alan called off one of the biggest ever shocks in the tournament as they beat england by three wickets in a remarkable welcome groupy not in bangalore england won the toss and decided to

bat openers andrew strauss and kevin thomson picked off the boundaries of an inferior status and for a top school for england with ninety two and in much the eighty one to catch the economy with a quick sixteen and ending close on an impressive three hundred twenty seven for a night in reply island states are doomed as they stuck two hundred eleven for five but kevin o'brien. it's the sad turn inspirational fight back helps by poor fielding bryan hit the torrance quickest ever turn to get the chance of victory he reached just and this was just. smashing straight through hayden's record of sixty six points in two thousand and seven a grind was eventually run at four hundred thirty in just sixty three balls. i learned the math needed only eleven from eleven balls is that the winning for it is stunning three little victories bibles to spare the it is all because the finest

moments but i wish you the same this way. meanwhile the snowboarding world cup will take to the sights here in moscow on saturday and ahead of the event constantine the top off interview one of russia's hottest prospects such england next and then a citizen. journey now is one of the rising stars of russian snowboarding i don't know as i was in a triumph in apparel giant slalom at world championships and spain hello a nice to meet you but i have to start with a question about your knee injury that you got on the next day of your glorious victory what's the latest news tell us a little bit about your ability. i injured after i won the world championships and it was quite devastating news for me and i actually first i thought that nothing serious happened it would be like something maybe like some. really commands or something and it would take a week but then when i came back to moscow and i took some. m.r.i.

tests my doctor said it takes way longer than one week and takes like six months to recover everything is going quite quite normal for such. injury and i think i'll i'll be better than i ever was after all this. training trainings and workouts which i have here and i'll be back in i'll be back in july. but let's remember some positive moments. when the world cup the world championship what was the most special for you i just think it was like very special for me because we always have the same people in the world cups and the world championships. it all came you know a bit later than that particular day i was just on my plate the best mood ever probably feeling invincible and feeling so great that before that i won

the world cup once and i was quite i had some solid stars before the world championships but that day i just so nervous before the start i you couldn't imagine but after that when the finals started. it all felt better and better every run felt like more solid and more consistent and after that i was just like whoa so i have a new name right now like the world champion of the entire planet. you must have been frustrated to get means reacts to your flawless victory and don't spoil your impressions of your when he had the flu. spoiler ago i don't think it spoiled actually the impression the impression of the wind because maybe maybe maybe he didn't like it highlighted the victory ahead because you know. who knows what results would be for me in the world cup you know the rest like three or four world cups maybe i would be like in top six and maybe i would crash and

usually i really am really not consistent in the end of the season because i'm tired and right now i don't have a chance to frail anymore so i actually it was maybe the best time to quit this isn't. come finally news of a small football tragedy as part of our defendant lewis moreno facing sanctions for delivering the apparently fatal kick to one must start out during a league match in colombia this is the unsuspecting berth on the pitch he used to serve as a mascot for the local team athletic again you're not something that i'm here that's a possible way of the ball and the deportivo put out as they know it's possible to pitch it was later dog knows when the leg fracture then went into shock and don't like two days later when i did apologize for his action could still be suspended and fined. and that's all the sports news for this person i think i.

can grieve for the feel we've got. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers.

beasts in which bryson. song from feinstein. talks on t.v. don't come. on r t tonight echo of a rock as the u.k. considers military intervention in libya there are fears the ongoing violence in north africa could trigger another disastrous campaign. as washington seeks to shake up its foreign policy members of congress question the u.s. government's ability to back the right candidate in north africa and the middle east. plus a bumpy revolutionary road as the last leader of the soviet union turns eighty our team takes a look at the country's democratic transition and why some blame the company but charge for bringing destruction along with it.

you're watching r t eleven pm moscow time welcome if you just joined this my name is kevin now in our top story tonight the opposition in libya claims to have fought off an attack by colonel gadhafi forces in the eastern oil rich town of breda reports say fourteen people though have been killed in the fighting meanwhile the u.n. has warned of the unfolding humanitarian crisis so much uneasy in border where thousands have been fleeing the violence in libya. and shoot us with more tonight. so far moving seventy five thousand people have fled here to tunis from neighboring libya the situation on the border is chaotic as border guards they struggle to keep calm and i needed a chance to drift to the libyan people need a moment to just he warned against american intervention in his country a few say the jedi united states or any other for an hour trying to intervene thousands of libyans were dying he said to quote him that he was willing to fight

if we lost a man and if we lost women are here to keep control in his country he also said that he was not the president and therefore he could not resign he could not just hold on him and and he could not and made the constitution now some question the latest from the bush point was to david cameron wants formated to establish a no fly zone over libya has been rejected by many in the international community on that stance and russia they say actually it is in cells to determine the fate and the future if we have in london just go ahead and impose this messiah so it would essentially missiles to shoot down it's off to the city over now they're all coming to me wish troops deployed in farsi they are there with the humanitarian situation and their ongoing sense and they could be used to take over chemical weapons stockpiles in the city because land as it is fearful that it doesn't let you see stockpiles and gates of people will secure

a consummation from both egypt and america that to you is a sell to cisco meaning it's maybe seen not far from libya see there are concerns of a possible american intervention in addition to a possible push when my colleague in london or in it looks at what foreign intervention would mean for libya and we do not in any way rule out the use of military assets we must not tolerate this regime using military force against its own people is this history repeating itself the british government getting the guns on standby. as a country crumbles to impose a no fly zone in this case libya in two thousand and three it was iraq it's looking very dangerous looking quite possible that they will launch such an attack with or without approval and so we're looking at almost a repeat of what happened in iraq and in the results first spectrally largely the same but not every country's getting that treatment and libya is not the only

african nation in turmoil somalia has drawn out conflict has been called a slow genocide but there's little sign of u.s. or european military inputs and it's a similar story on the other side of the continent there are events unfolding right now in ivory coast where there is also a conflict an armed conflict between rebels and the government but nobody seems to be thinking of it it's only because fashionable attention is focused on libya but also from the political implications of the middle east as a whole as we all know the west including my own country britain has got its hands very dirty with the libyan leadership over recent years. with black gold libya has the largest proven oil reserves in africa more than three percent of the global toso and there could be a lot more undiscovered the only reason. your oil here anybody screaming and yelling about all those people who were killed in the ark of rico's. i guess cocoa

was not that much of a national priority but in somalia there was precious little help while the body count rose over the years except for one brief disastrous intervention involving u.s. soldiers immortalized in the movie black hawk down american forces failed at great cost to stabilize the country they left quickly and haven't returned and the lessons were learned when it came to iraq which remains of the staple even now with only feeble sheets. that much vaunted democracy troops are equally bogged down in afghanistan with no convincing timeline for withdrawal and an ever rising death toll. the mess that's been made in afghanistan the terrible it was caused in iraq really shouldn't people want any more countries in the middle east it's a model today's troubled african nations will want to impose on them. which is

still ruling. out american occupation of iraq really. help. the middle east. and american and european government shouldn't look the backing of whom either up to a million marched in london even the invasion of iraq in two thousand and three and times have changed this is now austerity britain where starting another war wasn't factored into the. british troops are already fighting an unpopular war in afghanistan it's highly unlikely the public has the appetite for again getting involved in someone else's struggle battling as they are at home in the face of deep cuts and rising unemployment and it's unlikely to be popular in sight this building the ministry of defense has to slash spending by more than seven and a half billion dollars in the next four years it's an intervention britain would find hard to afford on many levels your and it's our duty. antiwar activists

colonel turner told r.t. the world libyans may want a regime change it should be achieved from within not by foreign intervention. i'm extremely worried it could be a foreign intervention led by the united states and britain i think it's very difficult for them but on the other hand if they feel that there's any opportunity of toppling and installing a pro western regime or if they think feel that the oil interests and upper tiers of the interests are in some way threatened then i think ultimately they won't hold back and particularly concerns about the no fly zone policy that speed and it spells the comparison would be what happens in iraq in the ninety ninth his at the end of the gulf war of one nine hundred ninety one the united states and britain and so on a stop list and no fly zone the net result.