t.v. channel pick about why he took action and the legacy of that decision this is 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 at the time but 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 that would accommodate everyone and would eventually facilitate a reintegration of georgian territory that's acceptable for all the parties in that cage a negotiation naturally this is what i told it 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 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 leesa 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 the 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 the most 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 our meetings at that. one more question in here a but they still believe that the 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 any. well letting them do that would have been a crime against the memory of those who died protecting their land therefore our mission at the time was to destroy georgia's war machine so that it wouldn't be able to target civilians and settle. 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. to russia now for deciding whether it's ok to launch a peace it wasn't me she 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 so 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 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 you know georgia had been split into three parts by the time of the war which 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 the parties in the conflict the so-called rebels in the program dappy 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. all of us practical politician should keep a close watch on the developments in that country but 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 faced and we will eventually have to take some decisions on syria to actually we've been watching developments very attentively the situation is changing and so we're really active. and 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 sect is a 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 that 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 have explained by rationale for taking it as a decision on the numerous occasions you see i didn't get any figures for the

motivation this isn't exactly a case for mathematics it more let me remind you what was going on there on the night between. the seventh 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 completely damaged 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 the 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. some more time if i asked in the minister called again i have something to tell you i believe they've just leveled

a 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 that are the operation continued after the heavy weapons rolled in and the conflict turned 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 who called whom 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 and i do 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 to meet. 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 sometime later we had the meeting in which mr putin attended. moving on the question of russia's accession to the world trade organization is very relevant these days russia into the w t w c o wants russia the problem as far as we understand is that georgia is blocking russia's accession it is the only country that's not seen favor of russia joining the w. there's been talk about georgia agreeing to agree to russia's 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 russian 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 w t o a 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 problem 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 south or 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 yes that's what the serving it as a prerequisite for russia of a session we won't fall for that w t o a sessional is not too high a price to pay thank you very much mr president with. a little. see. the sense.

the week's top stories from our t.v. u.s. credit ratings being downgraded for the first time since one thousand nine hundred

seventy despite the last minute debt ceiling deal with averted default. this comes on top of wall street's worst performance in over two years and european debt troubles suggesting the share rollercoaster ride is likely to continue monday . egypt's former presidents 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. and just across the border in israel over a quarter of a million people have rallied against the government demanding better living conditions and say they were ready to do what it takes. up today you're watching t.v. from moscow. hello and welcome to the latest on the sports update and here are the top stories. looking up twice former champions robin pollock pressure on the top four edge the

struggling spotlight now one nil in the russian premier league. last that's why they're champions manchester united come from two goals down to beat rivals munched a sixty three to win stoppage time to win the community shield at wembley. and three's a charm while number three vera zvonareva aims to claim her third title this year as she takes on next got out in the mercury insurance are open final. but first a football and twice former champions rubin have kept up the pressure on the top four clubs with a controversial one zero win at second bottom spot or not take in the russian premier league defender only a hundred or so of us saw his people first off penalty saved by staggered as you call it must be going to save his blushes with a seventy second minute strike despite a wave of protests from the home side who insisted the strike was called in the build up nevertheless the ravine took a victory just a fierce level of points with bulls placed underneath. to one up against visiting spartak moscow. going on back to sponsor

a second top penalty and in the final game of the truce new manager. will be hoping to keep up his impressive starts the club for his full swing in four games was his moscow team take on the bottom side clear so that so. well in the early kick off the boys. used to know him is that lonely and when they're four match when this run and stay nine mostly i but i you opened the team and examined. with that pinch it lasted in a known good range cracow from a set piece and room so i am caught today thirty feet for going. well on saturday. vincent humbled league leaders take on moscow to nell to cut the gap to the top to just two points two goals within one second half minutes did all the damage alexander has a cough opened up to fifty four minutes with a pinpoint header. before and unmarked and off swiftly made it to nail

the template that he got in favor of his near post defeat was only the second the season for taste was made and out and beaten nine games coach of china's policy praised his charges that counter-attacking style. but reshaping the look we have played c.s.k. many times the know the attacking dangers of their food such as love and done via so we made a decision to limit their space and to defend deep to try to catch them on the brain chevy lay has more possession but we were the team that won in the north and you have it in you so red if it's a father san francisco supporters but some of the fans 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 scotland has more of. 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 i must say to parts i read the announcement and said sky website

and now both my sister and i are here to read the players out. the announcement sasha was talking about is a club from a company in india 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 a scar and they will get an opportunity to lead it their favorite player one of their field games that often missed calls that were made that told me that i could leave the player on to the pitch i said yes trade away because i have to scout in iraq and kate is my favorite. those lucky enough to be among the first eleven up against it a birthday present which their friends will for. we talked about for months after all it is a dream come true to be to your ideal to such an important much like the one between syria and senate that was. our biggest janet says scott ever since i can remember myself and i would not miss this chance for anything something like this may never happen again. it's not the sea it started last year which will be soon be

restored their memories of the great shoot for their parents put thinking in the reminiscence of the special birthday present and more than likely remain in their hearts for the. scope of our two. while over in england ninety scored twice including the stoppage time when i asked defending premier league champions manchester united came from two goals down to be f.a. cup winners and fierce rivals manchester city three two and win a thrilling community shield encounter a wembley but additional curtain raiser to the new season proved to be after a lot of will give united a psychological lift as they aim for top flight title number twenty city took the lead after thirty eight minutes joey unless got heading fast every time the goalkeeper. and in first time jacko had enough space to runs and five hundred sixty seconds however united. by seeing off to the restart and united with level within an hour nani chicken keeper joe hart then deep into stoppage time hesitation by

instant company on the hot line last night to run unchallenged round hearty and complete a scintillating comeback three to a. full house webb also on a finished off their pre-season tour of north america with a two no when i have a mexican side club america how do you know pete does diving there for the first goal midway through the first half and then in the final minute to say ok set that to the seconds from point blank range sixty eight thousand fans part of the cowboys stadium to watch this one faster than it now has back home base gerona semifinal at the catalonia cup on cheese day. it's due. it's tennis 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 event of each and which the final of the mercury insurance open in california the twenty six year old lost the first set then came back to take the next two this is the ninth win in a row for the russian you see it real full during the hard court season when the

robot will next play i guess go to advance going the final off to the polls and also in three sets well around scott found herself trailing the german whose power saw her take a one set lead however which capitulated in a second largely because she was feeling ill and then want to run to the bathroom to vomit however she did return for the deciding said where who has had a heavily struck shoulder grandees at six four to take the match. now in the meantime it was as extreme as it gets at the latest x. finds event in poland a spike broke his leg you can see the series lead to twice defending champion nate adams crashed and fractured his body bone during qualifying on thursday as the region has been operated on since hopes to be back in action before the end of the year the injury ruined you match of next month's season finale in sydney while back

at the city stadium the capacity crowd were treat each to a drive by local ski jumping legend out of knowledge as the four time champion is preparing to race in next year's dakar rally a while back on two wheels eventual victor adams was surprised he actually won the event but the americans backflips did while the judges said it was he champagne corks in the end also securing a narrow point cushion. finally to an detroit red wing center that suit has won this year's column of trophy ending alexander ovechkin five year reign there war is given by russian newspaper soviet sports which recognizes the top russian player in the n.h.l. and r.t. quartet with that soup who spoke about life on and off the ice.

it's the hard question sludge but also so what will they have from the ribbing system there i'm out there from. like not only in the inside team and not told me is a phenomenon they work unless it's built to last fifteen years and maybe more so when the people who work hard just weren't jump inside to do if you were to be in the family little square and everybody you did is more towards varies tweeting from here. i'm still playing soccer i'm miles outside to have a lot of other. things stored so it will so that i can work more. this is my way when i'm drunk i just think in winter fireplace partly some of them playing target but i'm stuck in them playing the hockey i don't find the time for soccer and i am i being lucky.

with so much deliberate borth i have from the god given is more than enough also a little bit cultural that i'm me even though my during the year they did was just going to be a help when i was focused on the guests business like combination. maybe i'm not strong enough to hold somebody or three going to present more time be thinking about like penalty to solace when all do you go to when you stop working so i never thought was. the worst but ultimately.

so being secret this would be a more let's just move me into this post a number of people known to you to stop watching your mother looking for. a fish or a billion dollar bills a thing is something the movements of those like malls or the ones with a number of them so efficient and so knowledgeable about something else goes with it so i'm not opposed to being a small a quiet like one song but i do find an old hall song being wired more fishtank and the things i'm older than. and also when you. please join me again in just a. moment

to. bring you the latest in science and technology from the realms more. we've got the future covered.

in india in the movie. the gateway hotel the grand imperial truly told us to. run to the kennel was toto treat. the financial crowd a last minute. save the us from

a shop. which. can over two years with the debt problems in europe a crisis point the markets a brace. also in the headlines the president goes on trial on charges of mass murder and corruption but people feel the revolution a regime that replaced it is the. hundreds of thousands of people in the streets. nationwide rally to. make living costs lower go. hello this is are you watching the weekly a roundup of the top news stories of the past seven days with me and it's now nine pm.