vete of spoke to r.t. as well as the radio and the georgian t.v. channel pic and speaks about the action he took and the legacy of that decision this is what the russian leader had to say. i said 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 unrecognized state 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 if that's acceptable for all the parties in that cage 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 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 condoleezza 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. one more question in here of that they still believe that 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. 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 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 said. and the russian federation because as you know it's all mixed they're. surprised that you were referring to the piece in foursomes 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 of equipment mission 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 but 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 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 what gadhafi for one had issued unequivocal orders to slaughter opposition activists by contrast syria's president never did 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. as it enters the rest of the butts 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 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 to some of the main reasons for launching this so-called peace important operation how do you account for this discrepancy now three years after that. i have explained by rationale for taking out

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 let me remind you what was going on where on the night between. the seventh little gets the eighth well 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 down i told the minister that we should check this really completely out of his mind maybe it's just a provocative act and maybe he stress test satins trying to send us some kind of message and i will later minister reported to me this is no bluff they've done. and they're using grad rocket launchers and whatnot i said all right i'll wait for another update. some more time passed 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 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 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 that we taught and then we'll talk more 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 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 t o wants russia and 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 yes 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

the w t o. 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 o 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 and south of setia we will provide it via a modern electronic database i've agreed to the suggestion is made by the swiss

president of guarding 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 a session we won't fall for that. especially is not too high a price to pay thank you very much mr president. hamid karzai. limits. to. smother.

in the top stories in the wake from us the u.s. credit rating has been downgraded for the first time. that's despite the last

minute deal that averted default. comes on top of wall street's worst performance in over two years and european debt troubles two suggesting the share a rollercoaster ride like you continue on monday. egypt's former president on trial for mass killing and corruption but a wary public says the revolution is not over yet as the replacement you face. just across the border the. people of. this last week. conditions and say they are ready to do what it takes. watching r t from moscow. hello and welcome to the sports news and these other headlines. gave you the season

spartak moscow miss a penalty but come from two goals down and made a floodlight failure to a four to a ten month you know russian premier league thriller. plus that's why they're champions manchester united come from two goals down to beat rivals manchester city three two in stoppage time to win the community shield at wembley. and live to reach russia come back from three goals down to beat switzerland six for the crown european beach champions. refers to conventional football and an unconventional match having missed a penalty and ensured a break for a flop like failure spartak moscow came back from two goals down two in four to attack in a pulsating match in the russian premier league the home side so a first through after that off on thursday maurizio netted a rebound of penalties from a few to no answer just before half time. missed the penalties thanks to net it stayed there three minutes after the interval. and i ever saw the reds and the need

to pull the goal back from the penalty spot before our eight made it to two off the seventy six minutes but then the lights went out of the new stadium and it took fifteen minutes to get them pushing the realest and when the game resumes and validate netted a goal each deep into injury time he was spotted like the wind forty yet in complete contrast it was an uneventful game for lokomotiv who were held to a goal of the struggles by bottom side please about self. well meanwhile twice former champions rubin kept up the pressure on the top four with a controversial one no win at second bottom spot no chick defend only under the silver saw his feeble first half penalty denied with a good. you call that the bank that saved his blushes with a seventy second meat strike despite a wave of protests from the home side who insisted the strike handled the ball in the build up still moving to victory and stay fifth. while in the early kick off

and he was present i cannot easy to know when is it not we are doing that for match winners runs fine once. opened thirteen minutes and. in the second half was in charge blasted in a long range cracker from a set piece to condemn his poor side and the third defeat in four games. one on saturday champions and humbled league eight as tesco moscow to nail to get the gap to the top two just two points two goals within one second half minutes did the damage to them because a call for an end to fifty four minutes with a pinpoint header before an unmarked that's when the new call for us was limited to nil it's simply ego i can say is just me a post that if it was only the second this season batista was neat and now i'm beaten thing nine games. so i read if it so far this season for it's a scale 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 onto the pitch with their heroes scott mcclellan 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 purchase i read the announcement and says sky website and now both my sister and i are here to lead the players out. in instances she was talking about it is a club streamer country 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 sask and they will get knocked. units each leader at their favorite player one of their games that often missed calls that were made that told me that i could lead a player on to the pitch i said yes straight away because he loves his count in iraq and is my favorite. those lucky enough to be among the first eleven up against

it a birthday present which the friends will probably talk about for months after all it is a dream come true to the day your idol to such an important much like the one. and senate that was. i've been a fan of says scott ever since i can remember myself and i would not miss this chance for anything something like this may never happen again. but the c.f.r. last will probably soon be restrained remembers the gratitude for their parents but thinking in the reminiscence of a special birthday present more than likely remain in their hearts for a. scope of women are to. watch over in england nani scored twice including the stoppage time winner is defending premier league champions manchester united came from two goals down to beat f.a. cup winners and free us rivals manchester city three to and win a thrilling community shield encounter the additional curtain raiser to the new season proved to be a thriller i will give united a psychological lift as they a top flight title number twenty city took the lead after thirty eight minutes

joleon lescott having found they were top goalkeeper that is the head and in first half stoppage time getting jacko have enough space to run in five home city second however you night it's chris smalling volley to go back soon after the restart and united will level within an hour nani chipping keeper joe hart then diffident a stoppage time hesitation vibrancy and company on the halfway line allowed nani to run unchallenged round hot and complete a scintillating comeback. meanwhile russia have won be your own league a super fine in beach soccer for the second time in their history after coming from three goals down to beat switzerland six four in moscow as a month of reports. russia has already established itself as one. the world's biggest soccer powerhouses alongside giants like brazil spain and portugal to name just a few the euro league super final held in moscow for the first sign by the way proved once again that they seem is a force to be reckoned with come the world cup however the home team started the

super final slow and that's because it lightly the swiss side who are the euro league runners up in last year's tournaments managed to upset the sold out improvised be sure read out three times by the end of the first period their star player and look at what's he must go striker deion stunk of scored a brace and he says he made borrero after the third should be diverted it was obvious that who won two top form in the opening minutes billion we couldn't hold on to the bull and eventually conceded some pretty easy bills with thanks to which we were by far more calm from the second i fear its own wards i think and achieve the result of both the russians finally brought some joy to the fans in the first minute of the second period after scoring a penalty switzerland's replied with a goal of their own a minute later but despite the disadvantage the home side managed to build on that first goal and equalized at the end of the second period it's not easy to play here against three thousand people and also one strong russian team. that think they make a good game but also that all of us is one of the best team in the world. that. we

have to learn from this for this game the score remained at four four until the clock showed three minutes before the final whistle and it was event that russia took the lead for the first time in the super final through the meeting sheesh and two minutes later the same player put the yearly crown beyond any doubt for russia after scoring his second for the team russia have become the champions of the continent for the second sign while switzerland have lost the euro league super finals for the second time in a row however both teams will get a chance to square off once again at the upcoming world cup in september that's like eleven days soccer season baseball from all over that. patients are not good at all it's not that it's the to compete or it's all callers that the soccer world cup where russia is considered to be one of the favorite teams robotic all three are actually hostile finally twice ok on detroit red wing center pavel that so has

won this year's column off try to say they were orders given by russian newspaper soviets sport which recognizes the top russian player in the n.h.l. and r.t. spoke at that soup but life on and off the ice. it's a hard question sledgehammer so when will they have from the ribbing system there i'm not there from the mike not only in the inside team run the whole organisation and not they will close the deal to this fifteen years might be more the one that some people work hard to jump inside if you are to be in the families of those who are and everybody who did is more towards days tweeting from here. i'm still play soccer and i are tried together a lot. thanks stuart so let's go so i can like more

and. this is my way when i'm just thinking going to the final place hosty and some of them playing charges but i'm stuck in them playing the hockey i've been funded time for saddam and i am i think one thing. it's so much deliberate both sides have from the top to resist but then i also a little bit of torchwood i'm meeting the my during the year day nine was just going through the whole thing i was just on the guests. there's a slight combination. maybe i'm not strong enough to hold somebody or but he brings with it so more than

believe me i'm old like bundle to you he sold his bundle to you know when you stop working so i'll never stop working once but ultimately. to be a secret it's a be immortalised can just move me into this post a number of people a lot of old you'll stop watching but looking for. fishing . russian built a. thing is going to the slave mall some of the ones that never looked so efficient so close to live with other goals and those with so. i place them in a small a quiet place what it's like but i had to find an old hall so it all be i water and

more fish tank and the things i'm older than. and that's all the support i've. known from them. bringing you the latest in science and technology from the realm slush. we've dumped a huge earth covered. india

is. the gateway to the grand imperial truly. closely. read the. hotel treat. top stories from the week. stripped.

two years of problems in europe to a crisis point the markets a break from. egypt goes on trial on charges of corruption people feel. in the neighboring israel hundreds of thousands of people take the streets and the president. hello this is all to you watching the weekly roundup of the top stories in the past seven days. moscow time first last friday the financial world was shaken after the u.s. was stripped to.