masters about why he took action and the legacy of that decision here's what the russian leader had to say. that's a question mr president thank you very much for agreeing to answer our questions then let us go back to the events of two thousand and eight back then you met with the georgian president mikheil saakashvili your meeting took place in st petersburg and there was an impression at that point both in tbilisi and in moscow that we had arrived at some sort of an accord and the dispute would not be allowed to pull over into an armed conflict and i reiterate that this feeling was present both in moscow and in tbilisi could you tell us that he managed to agree on anything with the georgian president back then. you know catherine i had the same impression that the time i can still recall meeting president saakashvili for the first time it was in some petersburg we met in the constantine palace and mr secretary arrived i told him literally you know there are many problems in the region at the moment georgia

is an obstacle these unrecognized states but i can assure you that as a newly elected president of russia i shall do everything in my capacity to help you find some compromise solution to that would accommodate everyone and would eventually facilitate a reintegration of georgian territory that's acceptable for all the parties in the gauge a negotiation naturally this is what i told her word for word and his response was spot of course we are ready to cooperate and i also have this impression that we could at least try to find some creative solutions if not a new chapter in time but first of all there was an opportunity to meet on a regular basis which i can tell you earnestly i spent the next month checking regularly for any feedback from our georgian counterparts. but at the same time georgia was getting more and more visits from envoys from across the ocean but as they would be double. shifts the moment of truth for me as i realized later while analyzing those events in hindsight over and over again came with a visit by u.s.

secretary of state condi lisa rice following that visit my georgian colleague simply dropped. all communication with us he simply stopped talking to us he stopped writing letters and making phone calls it was apparent that he had some new plans now and those plans were implemented later. mr president am i correct to assume that the way you see a visit by the u.s. secretary of state was meant to urge president saakashvili. do you think the united states was deliberately encouraging georgia to pursue a conflict with almost no i don't think so the united states is a very large country headed by pragmatic people but in politics connotations a nuance is a very important as it is i don't believe the american said georgia's president to invade but i do believe that there were certain subtleties and certain hints made statements like it's time to restore constitutional order or it's time to be more assertive which could effectively feed saakashvili apparent hopes that the

americans would back him in any conflict that they would stand up for georgia and even go to war with the russians therefore i do see a relation between ms rice's visit to georgia and the events that followed just as i see a link in my further discussions with the u.s. president our phone conversation and then after meetings at that. one more question in here of that they still believe that while initial response was legitimate self-defense the further actions of the russian troops were excessive why wasn't it an option to push the georgian forces out of the set and stop at that point to. of course. you know sophie people are free to make speculation like that and i have come across the many times to try putting yourself in the shoes of russia's commander in chief my shoes that is sure we could have merely forced them out and stopped there but what we're hearing from georgia we should fall back to our initial position and our american friends and their allies will help us rearm get

our new aircraft and whatnot and then we should resume the same offensive with renewed. well letting them do that would have been a crime against the memory of those who died protecting their land and therefore our mission at the time was to destroy georgia's war machine so the legion wouldn't be able to target civilians i was setting. on the russian federation because as you know it's all mixed there. you were referring to the peace and horseman's operation and i keep thinking back to today libya and syria when do you consider it acceptable to step up what's your rationale for deciding whether it's ok to launch a piece it wasn't me she's got that here is russia billion to gadhafi in libya and here it is imposing sanctions against syria how do you accommodate your decisions on georgia back then and russia's stance on today's prices. you see alexey it's always case by case there are no identical countries and there are no identical

solutions i guess it's clear to you what is going on in libya there's a man who has been running the country for forty years and at some point he decided to use force against his own people and this was condemned by the entire international community including russia which is we're not taking any part in the military campaign reza few nations are attempting to instill order in libya through military means we don't think it's the right thing to do but there is one nuance you should keep in mind georgia had been split into three parts by the time of the war with them it should have been about pulling the country back together for them rather than merely restoring constitutional order of libya is still in one piece such a risk does exist for libya but so far all the parties in the conflict in the so-called rebels in the program daffy forces have pledged to preserve their country's territorial integrity so the situations are quite different however i'm not saying

this to explain how we make decisions i'm merely trying to demonstrate that all of these situations and scenarios are totally diverse. this goes for other countries as well. what about syria and. syria is a more complex issue but sadly their situation has been unfolding in a very dramatic way so far that much all of us practical politician should keep a close watch on the developments in that country what gadhafi for one had issued unequivocal orders to slaughter opposition activists by contrast syria's president never ordered anything like that unfortunately people are dying in syria in grave numbers and that arouses our deepest concern that therefore in my discussions with president assad during our personal conversation with and in our correspondence i've been advocating one principle idea that he should immediately launch reforms reconcile with the opposition restore civil accord and start developing

a modern state should he fail to do that he's in for a grim face and we will eventually have to take some decisions on syria to naturally we've been watching developments very attentively the situation is changing and so we're reactive. it answers the rest of the thoughts of this is a look at some of the numbers in the wake of the war in two thousand and eight russian envoy said the representatives of south a set is de facto government argued that the fighting in simi valley had claimed two thousand lives that was the number that was announced that later on russia's investigative committee estimate of the casualties at no more than one hundred fifty people meanwhile it was this alleged toll of ten thousand this would serve as one of the main reasons for launching this so-called peace important operation how do you account for this discrepancy now three years after the battle here. i mean i have explained by rationale for taking it as a decision on the numerous occasions you see i didn't get any figures for lotus

nation this isn't exactly a place for mathematics it's more the what's more let me remind you what was going on where on the night between. the seventh little gets the eighth i received a phone call from the defense minister i was on the vacation at the time sailing down the volga river and the whole world was looking forward to the olympics that were about to take off in china the minister told me that georgia had launched a full scale combat operation to be honest my initial reaction was complete the samples that i told the minister we should check this really completely out of his mind maybe it's just a provocative act and maybe he stress test settings trying to send us some kind of message and i will later minister reported to me this is no bluff they've done. it and they're using grad rocket launchers and whatnot i said all right i'll wait for another update or some more time if i asked in the minister called again i have something to tell you i believe they've just leveled the tent full of our

peacekeepers killing every one of them what was i supposed to do i said return fire and shoot to kill no figures had been announced at that point. mr president you said you gave the order to return fire the operation continued after the heavy weapons rolled in and the conflict turns into an all out war could you tell us about how you made the decision to continue the operation and another question that all our colleagues would like answered you who called him first did you call prime minister first or did he call you how did you and the prime minister called you need to move. the first time i contacted him about a conflict was about twenty four hours after it had broken out that involved was already ablaze mr putin just made a statement condemning tbilisi's move that was the right thing to do of course we spoke twenty four hours after the attack over a secure line you understand it's not very appropriate to discuss matters like this by south areas it's also a lot of trouble to establish a secure line with someone who's in

a different country we talked and then we talked when he came back but even before his return i called meeting a. of the security council i explained my position my decision to return fire and engage in conflict and security council members voiced their support for my decision some time later we had the meeting in which mr putin attended a dinner was. moving on the question of russia's accession to the world trade organization is very relevant these days russia wants into the w t o w c o wants russia and the problem as far as we understand is that george is blocking russia's accession it is the only country that's not in favor of russia joining the w. there's been talk about georgia agreeing to agree to russian succession if russia lifts its impact on the import of georgian goods will make some other concessions is russia willing to barter for it and what is your take on the prospect of russia joining. us. that was very well put the one point i don't want to do

is barter for it that would be immoral georgia has a position on russia's session we respect that position as we respect the stance of any state as long as that position is in line with the goal set out in the charter trade trade preferences custom regimes we're ready to discuss it all the imports of wine and mineral water we will discuss anything but the problem is something else in essence our colleagues in georgia trying to force a new edition of the political problems under the guise of w t o a session i'm referring to entry points control over the traffic of goods then they will want to get the e.u. involved our position on this is clear if you want information about the traffic of goods including transit through and south of setia we will provide it via a modern electronic database i've agreed to the suggestions made by the swiss president regarding this and i recently discussed it with president obama we're

ready to implement the model that switzerland has proposed to us however if they try to change current. the tickle reality serving as a prerequisite for russia to yoga session we won't fall for that. essentially is not too high a price to pay thank you very much mr president. the mission. couldn't take should three years for charges free to make amends three. three. three. old free blog to feel for your media project a free media our teeth dot com. wealthy british.

market. come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with mike stronger for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines kaiser reports on. the week's top stories from our u.s. credit rating has been downgraded for the first time since one thousand nine

hundred seventeen that's despite the last minute debt ceiling deal that i've heard you took. this is come on top of wall street's worst performance no for two years and european debt troubles suggesting the share roller coaster ride is likely to continue monday. egypt's former president is on trial for mass killing and corruption but a weary public says the revolution is not over as the replacement regime is failing to meet their demands. also just across the border in israel over a quarter of a million people have rallied against the government they are demanding better living conditions and say they are ready to do what it takes. more details on those stories coming up at the top of the hour before that latest sport with kate.

hello welcome to the sports news and here are the headlines looking out twice for champions rubin aim to pall the pressure on the leaders as they travel to struggling spotlight now in the russian premier league. while the present system also in mystic group play boys and girls can walk out on to their playing heroes part of a fan campaign. under the trees a charm while number three beers on the river aims to clinch the third title this year as she reaches the final of the mercury insurance open. first a football and twice former champions are banner at second bottom spot at no looking for a victory that would put them back into the top four of the russian premier league but it's still going to listen in on their being defender the under december so he's people i don't think so i said again if you call while in the lower half of the table new boys clubs know i can write easy to know what is a sound card thanks to early strikes in h.r. last year and taken a drink which in just under half an hour i was despotic moscow in the final game

like my team's new manager jessica said i will be keeping to keep up his impressive start against its full screen for four games such as musgrave signed take on fourteen club players so that's. why in the meantime look about being one of the big movers since the transfer window opened on august the first for new players have joined the sixth place moscow side with new manager because sarah hoping to build on his team's confidence start to the season reports. the railway men have become the forty eight year old portuguese specialist ninth globe in his coaching career besides the club circuit josie cosier also manage the national team don't let your radio during the twenty ten feet by world cup qualifiers where he defeated like sober media austria and the faroe islands but these moments. the team with jamie has more confidence. because when the game sat down challenge some scenes in the beach of course yes the stars asia to.

the far scene is ease of mind now this gets the acquisitions forward to leave it i said all the twenty two year old ecuadorean international joins look only see from live on today in this banished league he played thirty two matches for his country's national team and scored five goals in the process over his relatively short professional career he's played full five teams including manchester city basel sporting lisbon and spain's molokai and live on to another new arrival is the nigerian international twenty four year old winger big sur a big not was also somewhat of a club hopper and enter milan player he spent the last two seasons on loan first for molokai in spain and the following year at west ham in the english premier league you can see a lot of plays from a year old are coming over to russia today to support spades and more and different clubs here and also you know when a close plays in in europe and the globe stays in the champions league or euro

police it motivates players a lot of the knesset west ham teammate man who held a caution also joined looking at the during the summer transfer period the portuguese defender's trophies include the french cup in two thousand and six and the netherlands sides all in two thousand and seven and that's when i was pushing as i know i know in. four stories ago and. it was a test i think that dignity and training is if you decide you want to play for border patrol so why don't you also or the game looking at cvs latest signing in spanish me feel they're all there is as up as there who joins the club from sporting lisbon it's twenty six year old started in the league is our goal where he played for five years scoring five goals and winning the spanish super gaap in the process in an interview with looking at seeds of fish. website zapatero admitted that he had offers from four spanish clubs as well as if they spar mock england's newcastle and olympiakos from greece however looking at these offer outweighed the

rest mainly because of a new head goes his job as a call say was personal involvement. so we're going to see barry get to lose a match or even concede a goal under joe was a cosy arose the management team is now ready to reach new heights in the remainder of the season and that the new yorkers this sense of should help the team achieve that goal ramon koester of r.t. moscow. meanwhile assassinate champions an eight humbled league a distaste two nil to cut the gap to the top just two points two goals with a more in the second half minutes did the damage alexander cough opened after fifty four minutes with a pinpoint. full and unmarked cars swiftly made it to nail it into iraq in favor of his near post the defeat was only the second this season for taste that was and is now completely million games which the channel split and praised his charges for their counter attacking style. rejecting a look we have played c.s.k.

in many times the know the attacking dangers of their forwards such as love and dumba so we made a decision to limit their space and to defend deep to try to catch them on the break they had more possession but we were the team that won. so we're ready for it so far this season for tesco supporters but some of the founders will want to remember this day for a very long time as a group of birthday boys and girls were given the perfect present the chance to walk out on to the pitch with their heroes scott mcclellan as well. all these kids have at least a couple of things in common one of them of course is their undivided love for the red and blue club says moscow and the other is that they're all celebrating their birthday in august. thirty first i read the announcement and said sky website and now both my sister and i are here to lead the players out. the announcement sasha was talking about is a club trauma company and aimed at winning over the hearts of supporters from an early age in this case it's both boys and girls aged eight to twelve all parents

have to do is submit their kids' birth certificate to see as and they will get an opportunity to leave at their favorite player one of their games that problem or schools that were made that told me that i could leave the player on to the pitch i said yes straight away because he loves his car and ereka cape is my favorite. those lucky enough to be among the first eleven up against it a birthday present which their friends will probably talk about for months after all it is a dream come true to be to your idol to such an important much like the one between serious and senate that was i've been a fan of says ever since i can remember myself and i would not miss this chance for anything something like this may never happen again. if not to see a star last as that will probably soon be raised from their memories the gratitude for their parents quick thinking and the reminiscence of a special birthday present will more than likely remain in their hearts forever. scope mclean in our two. now overeating and defending premier league champions

manchester united are taking on f.a. cup win as unfair as rivals much to city in the community shield at wembley the traditional curtain raiser to the new domestic season which will kick off in a week's time and it's an absolute cracker it's all spirit to tell in london joleon lescott headed in that it's over for a kick off the thirty eight minutes past you know unfortunately that is awful he said. and the young spiny was picking the ball out of the net for a second time in first half stoppage time up and injected just getting too much space to run and five hundred thirty second spots chris smalling pulled on but he united soon after the restart as a new signing ashley young this is the red devils. level the game minutes later now gone to two. while. barcelona finished off their pre-season tour of north america with a two no win over mexican side club america country on a pick to have studied via the first goal get away through the first hall and then

final minute say to cater to the second point blank rage range even sixty eight thousand fans touch the cowboys stadium to watch this one boss alone now to head back home to face jerome in the semifinal for the catalonia copter on tuesday. it is now in russian verizon the rover is on course for her third title of the season after the world number three came from a set down to beat honor yvonne of each and reached the final of the mercury insurance i've been in california the twenty six year old lost the first set for then came back to stakes the next tweet this is the ninth win in a row for the russian to see real form during the hard court season so i write about the next play i got in the final on the whole bit and i picked a beach ball seven three said well write downs got found herself trading the german whose power saw her take a one set lead however which capitulated second largely because she was feeling down to a ball swim to bowl mates however she did return for the deciding set where the

right balance go who has self had a heavily strapped shoulder ground out to match six ball. moving on tiger woods was was thirteen shots off the base after the third round of the world golf championships in ohio while the man to catch after the third round with adam scott is trailing pairing up with tigers for mchattie steve williams for a third big tournament scott was in a four way tie for the lead at the start of the third day but the australian moved into the out right lead on the sixteenth hole following pin point approach thirty one year old ended the day with a sixty six to platoon twelve and a pop over rule with a round to play that was a shot to head a fellow australian jason day and nineteen year old japanese star rio she caught me we always had another disappointing round he carded a seventy two instances final round on one over par the former world number one admitting he'd struggled on the greens for his putting it let him down. yesterday i didn't hit the ball well starting oh and i fixed it put together again and. really

had a good coming home started the ball over the right flight the right tragedy ever to show was flush everything was back to where it was to begin the week only difference is i didn't follow again today and two to horseshoes. three put eighteen and you know i was a bit of make a bogus and was around sixteen of us four shots right there and that's all sports news miss bulletin i'll be back in a couple of hours' time see them free. a . wealthy british style holds a spot on. the. markets why not scandals. find out what's really happening to the global

economy in the cause a report on. me is easy to. see.

for the. we've got it for. the biggest issues get a human voice face to face with the news makers. stories from this week on our chief financial crown stripped of last minute deal on

the debt crisis can't save us from a shock credit downgrade. which rounded up wall street's worst week in over two years and with the debt problem think europe also at crisis point markets are braced on monday mayhem. egypt's toppled president goes on trial on charges of mass murder and corruption but people feel the brother aleutian arab regime that replaced him is a little better. and in neighboring israel hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets an unprecedented nationwide rally commanding the government make living costs lower or go. it seven pm in moscow this is r.t. coming to you live now away with our sunday weekly program a look back.