station and georgian t.v. channel peek about why he took action there and the legacy of that decision this is what the russian leader had to say in more detail. 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 where he managed to agree on anything with the georgian president back then . that 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 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 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 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 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 george as 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 were but they still believe that russia's 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 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 and therefore our mission at the time was to destroy georgia's war machine so the legion wouldn't be able to target civilians or settle. on the russian federation because as you know it's all mixed there. surprised you were referring to the peace and force means operation and i keep thinking back to today libya and syria when do you consider it acceptable to step. down for deciding whether it's ok to launch a piece of 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 the parties in the conflict 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. 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 faced 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 that it's 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 here 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 two thousand and 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 the. i mean i have explained by rationale for taking that decision on numerous occasions

you see i didn't get any figures for the motivation this isn't exactly a case for mathematics and more let me remind you what was going on last night's between. the seventh the eighth i received a phone call from the defense minister i was on 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. completely out of his mind maybe it's just a provocative act and maybe he stress test set ians 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. some more time if 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 of 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 the security council members voiced their support for my decision some time 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 s w c o wants russian 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 yes there's been talk about georgia agreeing to agree to russian succession if russia lifts its impact on the imports 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 but 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 of us over interstate 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 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 yes that's what the serving is a prerequisite for russia w.t.f. a session we won't fall for that. essentially is not too high a price to pay thank you very much mr president this.

morning news today violence is once again flared up. these are the images the world has been seeing from the streets of kandahar. operation. please tell stories from our team of u.s. credit rating downgraded for the first time since one thousand nine hundred seventy

despite the last minute appeal to the verge of default. it all comes of course performance in over two years and european debt troubles two 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 ready to face them out. and just across the border in israel over a quarter of a million people have rallied against the government there demanding better living conditions and say they're ready to do whatever it is. he watching out for moscow. hello and welcome to the sports news and these are the 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 endured 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 and penalties make it to nil just before half time. missed the penalties thanks to nil it stayed there three minutes after the interval. and i ever saw the

reds and the meets 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 partially relist and when the game resumed development netted a goal each deep into injury time if you spot the win forty yes in complete contrast it was an uneventful going for a locomotive who held to a goal of the struggles by bottom side police about self. well meanwhile twice former champions are being kept up the pressure on the top four with a controversial one their win at second bottom spot no chick independently under the silver star his feeble first half penalty to know it was to go to you. that little bank can save his blushes with a seventy second meet strike despite a wave of protests from the home side who insisted the strike accountable for in the build up still moving to victory and stay fifth of while in the early kick off when he was not on camera easy to know when does it know you have been there for

a match winners for months finites masi i will tell you opened thirteen minutes and . in the second half was in church last in a long range cracker from a set piece of content to my side and the third defeat in four games. one on saturday champions and humbled league leaders take on moscow to nil to get the gap to the top two just two points two goals within one second half minutes did the damage with them because a cough and the fifty four minutes with a pinpoint header before an unmarked that's all that you cost us with them and to know it's simply ego i can say it was me a post the defeat was only the second this season that a sky was neat and now i'm beaten being nine games. so i read defeat so far this season for it's ayscough 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 the site approached i read the announcement and sasco website and now both my sister and i are here to read the players out. the announcement sasha was talking about it is a club streamer country and aim to 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 say ask and they will get an option. to leave it 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 yes straight away because a lot of his counting agape 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 the day you're idle to such an important much like the one between c.s. 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. it's not the c.f. card most will probably soon be restored their memories but gratitude for their peers put things 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 money 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 fierce 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 hitting fast they return the goalkeeper that is the head and in first half stoppage time to have enough space to run in five home city second however united's chris smalling volley to go back soon after the restart and united will level within an hour nani chipping keep joe hart then diffident a stoppage time hesitation by vincent kompany on the halfway line allowed nani to run unchallenged round hot and complete a scintillating comeback. meanwhile russia have won be your only a super fine beach soccer for the second time in the history after coming from three goals down to beat switzerland six four in moscow as marcos referee points. russia has already established itself as one of 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 time 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 up three times by the end of the first period their star player and look at what he must go striker deion stunk of scored a brace and his teammate borrero added the third should be to get in and it was obvious that two one to the top in the opening minutes billion we could hold on to the bull and eventually conceded some pretty easy bills to think style to which we were by far will come from the psych 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 scoring made it four four and so the clock showed three minutes before the final whistle and it was then that russia took the lead for the first time in the super final through the meeting shisha and two minutes later the same player for 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 beach soccer season baseball from all over the top. patients are not the dogs it's the to compete or alters that the world where russia is considered to be one of the favorite things robotic all through it all to moscow finally twice ok on detroit red wing center pavel does so has won this year's column off try to

say they were orders given by russian newspaper soviet 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 what will they have from the ribbing system there i'm not there from the mike not only in the inside team and the whole organization i'm not they will close the deal to this fifteen years might be more when the people work hard to jump inside they feel like i'm in the families of the swine everybody it is more towards days tweeting from here. i'm still playing soccer on my awards start to have a lot of other. thanks stuart so it's so so hard to like more

so. this is my way when i'm drunk i just think in point of time a plate of pasta and some of them blends hardest with them stuck in the play in the hockey and on the front of time for soccer and i am i doing one thing. it's so much deliberate borth her from the girl to muses but then i also lived with cultural day and meet them in my during the third year they knew it was just going to be a help and i was focused on the guests. there's a slight combination. maybe strong enough to hold some water or three grams doesn't so more than be

a. funnel to you the soul has no one to stop working so i never thought. it was but ultimately. to be a secret it's a be a more let's just move me into this post the number of people you'll stop watching looking for. fishing. russian built. thing is going to explode mall some of the ones that have looked at so efficient get so close to live with a couple from those with so. close to being a small a quiet place what it's what i do find the old hall so it all be. more fishtank in

the things i'm older than. and that's life. wealthy british style is not some time to. find. anything on. the market i now. find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headline is joining to cause a report on our.

in india in the movie. people. go to the grand imperial truly to talk to. closely. read the. hotel treat. stories in the week from. strict. crisis.

worst week in over two years some of the debt problems in europe a crisis point. also the. president goes on trial on charges of. corruption people feel the revolutionary regime the place to just a little better. and bring israel hundreds of thousands of people to. make a living. hello this is you watching the way clear for the top news stories from the past seven days tonight.