nato has no intention whatsoever to intervene in syria feline says the secretary general of time stopped for assurances in an interview to ardsley even as the u.n. security council debates a resolution against the syrian government. nato is challenging its members to join the air bombardments of colonel gadhafi in libya and moscow for peace talks. and the use of an atom drug to execute death row inmates in the u.s. could actually mean torturing them to track. down the narrowing trade gap in the u.s. is creating a positive sentiment around the globe helping russian markets post gainsborough

flood session in a row born that's not business but isn't what. it's seven pm in moscow this is arjun coming to you live with me and he's now a our top story this hour the syrian regime is under pressure on two fronts the u.n. nuclear watchdog is looking into its alleged nuclear activities and the security council is considering a resolution condemning the crackdown on anti-government protesters but so far russia has effectively been blocking that proposal put forward by france and britain parties were important is across the latest developments. following two hours of closed door consultations with the u.n. security council members france and britain did not corner enough support that they clearly needed for this resolution that they introduced to be adopted in that

resolution introduced by britain and france calls for a condemnation against the syrian government for our crackdown on anti-government protesters that has taken place over the past three months the resolution the draft resolution proposed by the u.k. and france as i mentioned also urges countries to not supply weapons to damascus and also on syria to iowa to comply and to work with the u.n. human rights organization now why this is a big effort on the part of these european countries to try to get the international community to clamp down on syria following three months of under us but as we've been reporting other countries veto wielding countries such as china and russia have spoken out against adopting any resolutions against syria russian ambassador to the united nations batali churkin says he believes that diplomacy should be used for solving political problems not creating conditions for

a new armed conflict the russian envoy said passing more and more and more resolutions puts the international community in a position where it's taking sides within an internal conflict because of concern interfering in syria fears milito an escalation of violence because it may be misinterpreted by destructive opposition forces who want change of power in damascus such positions definitely lead to more bloodshed and an escalation of violence in some point. is needed and we remember that in libya it also started with many human rights which ended up we do merely by the condition of his brush among many other countries believe that it would not help the situation in the middle east. possibly just destabilize syria possibly other countries and in the aftermath of what is taking place in libya a resolution being adopted back in march and some criticizing the fact that european and the u.s.

have overstepped the rights that were put out in that resolution russia and other countries are a little bit more reserved on how to with syria choosing a more diplomatic approach in the meantime consultations at the united nations will continue again thursday morning as the u.k. and france continue campaigning for support against this draft for this draft resolution against syria. well just a while ago i spoke to nato secretary-general anders fogh rasmussen who told me the alliance will not be sending military forces to syria but i would like to stress the nato has no intention whatsoever to intervene in syria at the same time lots of critics expect that that could be the case if we see a resolution russell saying that the fact that it's even being debated is going to cause more violence in syria. there might be some kind of intervention do you think not if the u.n.

goes ahead it goes ahead rather and approves that resolution once again let me stress we have no intention to intervene in syria having said that it's sheer international. condemnation of the brutal attacks against the civilian population in syria the only way forward is to accommodate the. aspirations of the syrian people. but you can see that full interview with nato secretary general anders fogh rasmussen just over an hour right here on our t.v. where you could head over to our website our king dot com right now. well for a look at what could lie ahead for syria we're going to cross live to paris where john laughlin is standing by for us from the institute for democracy and clucked aeration thanks for being with us once again here on r t the un is considering a resolution condemning syria's government it was the security council's men date that opened a path of course into libya for nato forces do you think we're heading for

a repeat in syria. it's difficult to say i think that the western powers particularly britain and france are trying to keep that option open i think they're trying to enlarge their room for maneuver by getting this resolution voted a resolution which i doubt a cli i'm sure will give if it's passed will give them grounds for justifying an attack on the other hand one of the purposes of this may be to keep the syrians guessing notwithstanding mr rasmussen fairly clear statement earlier which we've just rebroadcast the western powers may be trying to make the syrians think that they're about to and that is a way of bringing pressure on to persevere in regime i spoke to the nato secretary general just a bit earlier and he said that the alliance has absolutely no intention of intervening in syria first of all do you believe that and second of all. what would

that mean for for the for syria well i i i think that i don't think it's certain that the west wants to attack syria i'm sure that in and they would do so without any compunction on the other hand i think there are certain practical difficulties particular of course the current war against libya not to mention the military actions in afghanistan pakistan iraq and so on so there are practical limitations i don't think there are any limitations in terms of intentionality on the contrary i think that the western powers particularly united states are determined to overthrow the regime in syria just as they were after iraq was attacked in two thousand and three let's not forget that then the leading neoconservative richard poll said that once saddam had been toppled now it was time to change the regime in libya syria and iran but we must also take words with a pinch of salt he is an official he's not

a politician he doesn't decide the libyan war started as a friend who british. merican war before it was transferred to nato so he may be technically right to say that nato has no intention of attacking syria but it's not he who decides if the western powers decide to attack syria and if they decide to ask nato to take over the running of the war but it will be. the resolution that britain and france are seeking is a very very big one doesn't call for any kind of no fly zone or even sanctions what's the point of something like that that. i don't agree so i think. i think two things firstly i think it does concern contain the certainly the version i've seen does contain certain key phrases it for instance refers to the situation in syria as a threat to international peace and security for diplomatic code for unlocking the powers of the security council to authorize military action may not be obvious to the lay reader but that's what it means there are many other specific demands that

are made on the libyan authorities and of course there is the suggestion the train that they have committed crimes against humanity even if it were true that it was a big resolution. again the powers that may wish to attack syria are quite capable of using this to justify a military attack in nine hundred ninety one after the first iraq war resolution six eighty eight the one which called on iraq and demanded that iraq stop attacking its civilian population that resolution was used from that point on from one thousand nine hundred one until two thousand and three to justify the no fly zone which britain and america unilaterally imposed on iraq so vagueness can be very dangerous yes i never thought of it that way i guess vagueness couldn't be seen as a way to really in the end take more action i want to move on to russia's stance on syria it hasn't softened the way it looks at the resolution it's against it

categorically but the contrary at the same time the un atomic watch talk is investigating activities in syria is this an attempt you think to pressure assad's regime if the security council fails to adopt a mandate from another perspective. definitely i think what we're seeing are the western powers ratcheting up the pressure and as i said a moment ago they're trying to increase their room for maneuver so in the draft resolution you have crimes against humanity you have a threat to international peace and security and as you say in parallel you have this cranking up now of pressure from the international atomic energy authority so i think this is a way of increasing the number of cards that the west believes that it holds as far as russia is concerned i think that it's pretty obvious that russia or the russian government greatly regrets not having vetoed the resolution on libya which as we can all see was immediately exploited. to go way beyond the terms laid down in the resolution i mean by that that the western powers immediately started

to attack the libyan government launched a war whose goal is regime change whereas obviously regime change is not included in the terms of that resolution so i suspect that the russian government is as they say once bitten twice shy and i'm sure moscow is very reluctant now to get involved in to get trapped if you like for a second time in the same way but i think anders fogh rasmussen would certainly disagree with you on what that original un resolution meant but for now don laughlin from the institute for democracy and cooperation thanks for being with us on the line live from paris. nato is continuing its grass ugh libyan capital with reports of several major explosions and it's unlikely there will be any letup soon with the alliance chief calling for more military help to bring about a post era russia which is trying to broker a cease fire between the libyan regime and the rebels as both sides want a non military way out artist response and reports from tripoli. nature continues

bombing tripoli we've been hearing heavy strikes overnight as well as during the day this week actually the libyan capital has seen the most intense affair rate since the beginning of the operation in march with nato targeting gadhafi as compounds and command and control centers in an attempt to within the embattled colonel and force him out russia actually wants to see khadafi to step down moscow's envoy has visited libya and has met opposition leaders here and has also. duffy's closest ally and his cousin in cairo and after that mikhail margelov has said both sides had a mutual understanding that military actions is not an option and this conflict should only be resolved through peaceful means nato allies are in agreement today after moscow but the scene is. real simply about how to do that the alliance is

secretary general rasmussen and the u.s. defense secretary robert gates are demanding more participation more help from first member us because the reality is that only age of twenty eight nations members have. been well the country which is not in nato sweetness preferring to send its marines to enforce nato weapons involved and has agreed to extend its presence in this operation in fact the latest murmurs of discontent coming from the rubbles they. want to be sure as they say there. is staying out of the political process in leaving a case in a national issue so we can see that mater has intensified sematic lee it's the atmosphere in live where wow this can pain this whole operation against gadhafi is getting more and more unpopular among all the sides been involved. artie's maria

from notion of reporting from the libyan capital so had for you this hour a trip high into the caucasus mountains is even handed down through generations. and intricate wedding ceremonies are still close to the heart we visit the republic of russia that's coming up. more in north africa moscow's ban on european vegetables that's the range of issues facing russian and european leaders meeting on the banks of the volga river a traditional russia e.u. summit is being held in the city of new hundreds of kilometers from moscow our teams covering the church is there for. hopefully this radio weather will not be reflected in the mood of the summits but this is brown says there is the chink of light above the gloomy landscape of the euro crisis and the north africa uprisings president of the european commission jersey illinois but also recently described relations between moscow and brussels as they couldn't be better and optimism is

built largely around russia's new policy is present the various quest for modernization and some key major agreements reached between moscow and brussels over the past few months like russia's accession to the world trade organization something which both the european union and moscow will benefit from in december last year after some seventeen years of being in membership talks with this one hundred fifty three nation club russia at the moment is the only major economy which is still outside the group so finally after seventeen years in december brussels gave its formal yes to russia's w t o and tribute and now these two day talks will formally clear the way for the country to finally join the world trade organization and moscow hopes that all formalities will be sorted out before the end of summer there is still there are some key differences still dividing brussels and likely now another priority for this on the strictest sense will be european security of course and the topic will be debated in connection with the u.s.

plans to build a new aim d.n.c. missile defense system for europe washington argues that it is not about russia's strategic potential and russia argues that it will neutralize its forces and they'll be again an imbalance of forces so with the european leaders participating in the dialogue probably new solutions mutually beneficial solutions could be found on that here in asia northward and another talk big. where we expect some breakthrough will be russia's recent ban on imports of birch doubles from the european union with russia imposed a full ban pulling word go on vegetables from the you. to stop the spread of the deadly equal like strain from coming into the country it was followed by heavy criticism by from the u a bushel saying that it was going against the policies of the world trade organization and that that was disproportionate. russia is saying that it is ready to partially lifted the ban in case that the european union

provides it with sufficient information on the source of the infection so these issues could be settled and could be resolved during the summit initially not great as well. as you katrina groucho over there reporting on the upcoming summit in north korea. it's a set of used to cure everything from epilepsy to insomnia something worse states have started using a controversial drug to put people on death row into an eternal sleep human rights campaigners say the drug inflicts a cruel and painful death on its victims as a rabbanit reports its use in executions is becoming more widespread if you think you. know. if you were dead we don't see the word excuse. from a dog's life to a dog still prisoners on death row and now being killed with an animal drug tend to bob it's always used to put pets to sleep but it's never been tested on human

executions this can cause excruciating pain if something goes wrong and because we have no tests we cannot guarantee that it will go around to be risk of not just being killed being tortured to death. already been adopted in over twenty states is strictly an anesthetic and is normally just one ingredient in a lethal cocktail but in ohio it's killing alone it is not a painkiller we know that we will show you which have some what we call and then if it to get over that then you can be sure that there is no pain. so the bill brock is not a painkiller so that was your pension produced for a danish company back it's primarily used on humans to treat epilepsy and seizures but it's already been used in nine executions u.s. prisons ran out of the usual pseudonym fired painful after britain and italy banned

exports but then mark can't do that because the new weapons are made in america this is long but its headquarters in copenhagen despite owning a drug and opposing its misuse its protests in the united states have been unsuccessful because the government there sanctions the death penalty and it's reluctant to remove pentago it or from the market completely because it says it will do more harm than good our problem is that this product has been for the american market for many years so we are in there is it a limo where we can just stop the production for the market because that would actually. be people patients who come in to life threatening situations that the beast is the limit really in business indeed limbic cells fifty million doses of pentagon are brutal every year it claims it can't prevent death row using it as a killer because of a complicated supply chain but human rights groups don't buy it people are

beginning to realize that the statement there's nothing we can gear is a fallacy and a fussy eater in the street can do a lot and has a responsibility not to be complicit designations reprieve claims lynn blake has the power to control who gets the drug since it does with other products but that comes at a cost and the moment bricks not budging neither the u.s. prisons using a federally approved drug designed to treat people to kill instead i've been it r.t. copenhagen. next explore the parts of russia few people got to discover with our close ups and. today were high in the caucasus mountains in the republic of north or setia that's why brussels smallest region literally sets on the slopes of the hills it's

a lab where meadows made rivers and waterfalls and the landscape is breathtaking more than half of its area is taken up by national parks and reserves and it's well known for its therapeutic past water spraying he's moving across another is archived in the region. in this part of the world cooking is not considered a real man's job but it is all vanity n.b.s. ever wanted to do with the lot of them are dreamt of being involved in the confectionery business for as long as i can remember i always wanted to learn the secrets of a sexy international cuisine i wanted to help people through making good food. none of his family supported him in the village home he shared with his mother and five process he left his home and moved to the city and watched his passion grow into a number of food factories. that i call my crew body count in a city and it means abundance and everything wife develops now but we shouldn't

forget around sisters and we should follow our traditions that's the most important thing i believe. a certain food is based on three points towards some of the secrets that have been handed down through the generations for a start here these points much more than just simple fusty food ask people say have the round shape of this why signifies the universe in the middle it's creator i said here's what three pies on the table each one for three elements water and air . living in the mountainous area locals try to use everything the earth gives them for the feeling they use potatoes homemade cheese and even beetroot leaves in wealthy families pies were also made with mutton it's not just these tasty treats which have stood the test of time but also family ceremonies and weddings are among the most deeply held and the static traditions on answering this bridal sun is like

stepping into a cultural time machine where the spirit of the south against through the ages are woven into these delicate gowns most prized choose their own wedding dress but here they take cost a musician to the highest level all girls here learn the intricate skills needed to make almost every inch of detail in his hand made gowns unique and precise follow the traditions of their parents most women in north says here try to get married wearing national costume this one for example is a perfect copy of what price was two hundred years ago and it looks just as good today but the detail here is handmade and it takes more than a month to get a dress like this ready for the big day. craft work like this runs in the blood of the people in north saskia from trusting draw it's ensues for office workers to love this costumes for the top stages and russia one of the workshops for some

petersburg's prestigious marine ski or parin bali theater is based here in one of the narrow. streets of latika cross. belonged to the russian conducted by larry. we thirty in st peter's to continue years at the beginning careers but now we do everything independently and bring the finished costume to the theater. for a region enclosed by a towering mountains ne that his presence is felt way beyond its rural buddhist traditions that translated pride and delight to travelers who come here when a question about russia calls out the decompressed north to south you. business is next to an artsy with me to stay with us. the whims of mother nature of made wheat a big bread issue dry weather in the u.s. and europe are fueling supply concerns pushing grain prices high and the u.n.

says it expects production will rise this year but this is failed to calm the markets so far investors are putting their hopes and russia lifting its grain back next month and i'm joined by jack would agenda is c.e.o. of index futures group in chicago jack thank you so much for being with us so what's the general bet for wheat prices at the moment. but you know dimitri the way it feels right now we are squeezing out all the speculation that seemed to be in the market and there was so much talk of we continuing that climb in fact i remember being on this very program a couple months back as we were reaching nine dollars a bushel and and the question was whether there was any real traction to that and i thought there wasn't going to be for that very reason the other it would think to keep in mind is and i said it once before is that rebate is like a weed it grows very quickly so even though you go through drought conditions and you know the ukraine is a wonderful example of that what we saw happen in russia back in august and the reason why we saw the prime minister do what he did and that was help exports was

very indicative of we as a as a commodity grows very quickly now having said that what we eat is not and we have to keep this in mind is not a substitute for fuel whereas corn and sugar and other commodities might be so i don't see the support for wheat prices especially with what seems to be a actual record harvest out in the you in the in the russian region especially in the black sea area where we're looking at prices at roughly about one hundred dollars a ton cheaper than we're seeing anywhere else so all of that would tell me there are going to be downside pressure to wheat prices and that might be the only exception out of the whole bunch do you think additional downside pressure will come when russia lifts its ban on grain exports and around three weeks time. i you would all question i think that you know right now there's a question of whether there is going to be an abundance of supply or an over supply

not a question of whether there's going to be a shortage or not remember you know a few months back we were pricing in shortages as we saw nine fifteen we saw the deferred contracts and the expectations for further upside and remember it became the perfect storm at that time as we saw inflationary pressure from other parts of the economy starting to weave their way back in but all of that his changed over the course of the last couple of months and let's keep in mind that aside from the fundamentals of the market we also have again the speculators are not a bad thing but they distort market pricing so i think that overall what we're probably going to see is a sustained price over the course of the next couple of months more than likely a move down in july we're seeing it in july and in the deferred months after these exports come back on line and what they do i think then we're going to have to take a real key from what is happening in russia russia will be the key to the we market

over the course of the next few months undoubtedly ok when it comes to food inflation i mean it's been looming in the past twelve months but do you think we should be afraid of the dire consequences that they could have. you know inflation is here let's face it you know and for those that are in the intellectual community intelligentsia they understand it very well and you know we're going through a period that there are a couple of periods that you see in history where we see prices escalate asset prices cannot only prices look at the thirty's and forty's that's a classic example of what happened when you see economies inflate their way out of the prussians and recessions and inflate their way out of wars that is what's happening here is inflation here absolutely it was the question of the velocity of inflation starting to take off that seems to be subdued but right now again we are entering this period we're in not having exposure to the markets not having your

money and your capital at risk could be the biggest risk and it's almost counter intuitive but something that a lot of portfolio managers understand very well all too well and that's why risk management is becoming very difficult at these times now ok jack what are jan c.e.o. of index futures group thank you so much for for your comments and for your son. and afraid that so we have time for this hour but join us in fifty minutes time we'll have plenty more for you.