soviet settlement and the bottom end of the communist dream of the spitzbergen archipelago. it's just after four pm here in the russian capital you're watching r.t. now our top story tensions are running high in northern kossovo on the border with serbia where the breakaway regions of thirty's are plotting to seize control of two crossing points later on friday but local serbs are trying to prevent the move they're blocking roads leading to the two border posts and hundreds of them are staging a protest in the northern city of mixer vive sought to protest against kosovo's plans while your police and nato led troops have been deployed to the two sites but serbia claims international representatives are siding with costs of an authorities here's artie's money you know. the council gathered behind closed doors for

hours to debate and discuss growing tensions in northern kosovo kosovo has announced plans to send its custom officials and security forces to the border to to take it over now serbia is urging the council to prevent kosovo's ethnic albanian authorities from using force in northern kosovo that is an area populated by ethnic serbs violence between ethnic serbs and albanians erupted there in july that violence killed one person and wounded several others russian ambassador vitaly churkin says that nato peacekeepers in the area he believes could be won or even with the plans of the kosovo albanians rather than the venting danger from breaking out we have serious concerns about where we're all this is going. to be clear that. entire

proposition of european union playing this mediating role in a dialogue between between pleased and belgrade is maybe put in question so this sudden departure from the best of dialogue at the moment when it was beginning to show some promise promise in our view is completely unjustified unwarranted and that it injures now was back in two thousand and eight when kosovo unilaterally declared its independence with the support of the united states and western european countries this is something that was not approved by the security council and russia was one of the security council members that warned there would be escalating tensions to follow for years this is an international issue that russia serbia and many other countries believe needs to be addressed now before violence escalates and then further serbia won't jeopardize its missions to protect serbs

living in kosovo that's a view but his mother gorski a serbian filmmaker who's made several documentaries in and about costs of all. it's very naive to think that you lex and k. four are actually helping the pristina government know it looks ok for just continue their policies. under the banner of protecting peace and stability but with the establishment of course of a customs at these checkpoints the budget of kosovo is being filled up and the finances and economy in kosovo are controlled by international forces and international powers so tachi is merely fulfilling his tasks and it's very naive to think that his mentors will stop him i think the current government in serbia is unwilling to take any measures to protect the serbs other than to talk to international forces and hope that the international forces work will protect the serbs there. we all know that serbia is main goal is to join the european union and

they will not jeopardize that even if it means giving up on the hundred thousand serbs hundred thousand plus serbs who live currently in the province of kosovo well as always are invited to share your thoughts on this story just log on to r.t. dot com where the burning question is what should belgrade do about the cost of oh and just looking at the chart there so far the majority of our viewers think the best way out is to take it back from the albanians about a fifth say belgrade should repair the pottery at all serbs that forget about it all the rest is split between those who suggest recognizing cost of oh and joining the e.u. and those thinking serbia should just build a concrete wall at the border what's your take on the story log on to r.t. dot com and have your say. now in libya fierce fighting is underway for the few remaining strongholds of walmart gadhafi loyalists rebel forces claim they've launched offensives on sipped and bloody well the good they're backed by tanks and heavy weapons as well as a nato air shield does many of the national is in libya with more. we're hearing

from the national transitional council here in the capital tripoli that its troops have apparently entered the city of some five hundred kilometers east of tripoli that off his hometown and one of the colonel's last strongholds the m.t.c. reports that at least four of its fighters eleven on the other reports have been killed during these offensive seven others wounded and also there is information that forty could have been loyalists have been captured and since there are several reports that cut off his information chief dr muesli brigade would have been one of them but this information is very hard to verify fighting over another cent openoffice support bani walid some two hundred kilometers south of the capital tripoli continues while concerns over security safety of civilians trapped in the cities and the areas where the clashes between the rebels and gadhafi loyalists open tina and meanwhile the u.n. is expected to ease sanctions against libya visiting the country on thursday british prime minister david cameron

a french president nicolas sarkozy has said that they would introduce a u.n. security council draft resolution which expects to abolish international arms embargo and freeze even asses that. had been frozen as part of sanctions against gadhafi also stylish mission u.n. mission here in the country leaders of the two nato countries that played a prominent a key role in the libyan revolution that also say that nato mission here on the ground will continue for as long as it is necessary to protect civilians here in libya meanwhile some are skeptical about the real aims of this mission as it's more loops right now like backing the rebels and helping them take control over the rest of the country rather than protecting civilians so yes now a little bit far from its initial go and a separate issue prime minister departs libya after celebrating the end of gadhafi forty two year rule anger grow. in the u.k.

over the arms fair that once hosted the colonel when he was stocking up with new military hardware critics say it's one of the world's biggest weaponry sales force and that it provided the libyan leader with the means to launch his deadly crackdown on the opposition and as bennett has been investigating some prominent dictators have been shopping around for arms in london. selling weapons could be a moral minefield but not here this is the world's biggest arms fair and a massive earner for the british economy the government's putting its conscience aside as international delegates shop for tanks rocket launchers and the missiles so long as business is being done here it doesn't seem to matter who's buying this is guest list includes countries like saudi arabia and bahrain both regimes that violently suppressed pro-democracy demonstrations earlier this year bahrain was accused of opening fire on its own armed citizens in february saudi arabia sent its

national guard in to help driving arman vehicles made by be a systems the u.k.'s largest defense company its products on display here would be at home in any bond film this tank can alter its temperature changes infrared appearance like the british government the company can't change its spots it says there are countries it will sell to but that doesn't include any here if a country's been invited by the british government here it's it's probably going to be on your list of countries who are able to sell to. make sense of. these right to sell to say was regimes like bahrain have repressed democratic process. that will turn because of that. these protesters from the stop the arms fair coalition they are angry it's going ahead despite the recent crackdowns in libya in egypt both former customers of britain using their purchases

against their own people we're paying the price now in the mediterranean because we sold weapons deny all the countries that out experience in the arab spring i think it shortsighted it's bad for this country it doesn't make money it makes walls right here to get this year's shopping. include fourteen countries branded all thora tarion by human rights groups in fact the government came clean on just one day before trade began i'm sure they're very a barest because of the one good factory. david cameron was going to egypt walking around terriers square proclaiming his belief in human rights and freedom and democracy and the next stop was kuwait and it turned out he was traveling with eight company executives but the whole purpose of the trip this trade one of the big trade to try to make was weapon straight to the middle east the government says

it's tightening restrictions on who can buy weapons that could be used for oppression and he claims an invite here doesn't guarantee an export license but if it does big business for britain it generated twenty two billion pounds to the economy last year and the case now the second biggest weapons exporter in the world . with money like that up for grabs turning customers away empty handed may prove difficult might have been it r.t. london. for the sale of arms is also at the heart of the conflict in syria where fears grow that the opposition might have gained control of various weapons shipments well peter lavelle talks as guests on the implications of that possibility is coming your way in a few hours time but here is a preview. the syrian government has pointed out that the opposition sort of the elements within the opposition have been armed. forces particularly the united states as well as israel they claim that they have a confession from

a former general from syria who defected and he's going to be featured on syrian television are very soon i don't know anyone who believes the syrian government not only the syrians not by the syrian government i don't know any nation in the world who takes over syria's word the syrian the syrian government said if they are telling the truth then allow the media to syria allow the media into the square as a lot of myriad media to see the troops moving down innocent people like pacifist people and our role is to soldiers if they don't allow the media because they know they can massacre and torture and brutalize a lot more people if they don't allow the media in nobody believes the syrian government not even in fact the people the syrian government. now america's missile defense plans and europe have accelerated over the last few

days poland a follows in romania and turkey's footsteps confirming that it too will host a piece of the much debated project on thursday warsaw and washington announce a parts of the shield will be deployed on polish soil by as early as twenty eighteen does get you to account has the details the police think missile defense agreement signed between the us and poland in two thousand and eight and its amending protocol of two thousand and ten has come into force it in vision is the deployment of a land based s.m. three system in poland and it's part of america's revamped plan to build a missile shield in europe with elements of it deployed in different countries in eastern europe just earlier this week an agreement was signed between romania and the us romania to will host america's land based s.m. three interest. actors on wednesday turkey and the us signed a similar agreement but that one was about deployment of an early warning radar in korea keep the shield will be unfolding fairly close to russian borders needless to

say there's always been an ear attending the relations between washington and moscow the work of words on missile defense has been going on for quite some time now with washington saying we need powerful missile interceptors against a possible attack from some dangerous state but usually namely ran in north korea and moscow saying why we need interceptors for weapons at those ropes they just don't like russia does and russia views america's missile defense plans as an attempt to breach that very precious parity principle that was said by the start treaty russians have been quite persistent for years you know saying it's ok if it's not against us this thing together and that's been the missile shield in europe together and the response they get is always a no you know they say they will cooperate but not on equal terms so that russians say then give us a legally binding guarantees that the defense system will not be used against us. to discuss the recent progress of the u.s. missile defense plan subjoined live from chicago by rick ross of international affairs expert for the stop the nato movement mr also russia's envoy to nato was

critical earlier today of the u.s. is tightening in boosting its missile defense plans so why do you think there's such a marked spike in activity now i mean we just heard the three countries were suing deals in as many days. with your viewers know roughly two years ago in september two thousand and nine on the same day president barack obama and secretary of john robert gates announced you know more of the sun was doing its way that the u.s. was abandoning the previous administration the george w. bush's were. corps missiles to be deployed in poland and that's something that president obama referred to as that was murder. which. it is known on a day to burden your viewers with terminology but european phased adaptive approach as to take standard missile three s of the use of schools of leon sure and what are

called the just quest cruisers and destroyers and to place them on land the fact that this could be implemented more quickly and apparently more effectively suggests that you know far from. alleviating russian concerns about the previous administration's plans we may be looking at something that is going to be implemented more quickly and more extensively you know for example as the lead on to the mountain within the last few days both forward and armenia confirmed that each will allow the united states and nato to base twenty four standard missile three interceptors so respectively that each country but the same at the same time see how it was mentioned that turkey is going to allow us to deploy sorry transportable for evidence or as a sorry we don't have much i do have want to ask you a lot of questions when you were speaking about wording and if there is any consistency here nato at the us i've consistently been claiming that the shield is a purely defensive measure and it was assigned to counter possible attacks from countries a neighbor iran or north korea how real do you think are those threats from those

countries they're not i mean fictitious for the most part about imaginary weapons program why build why build a missile defense if you're saying it's a fictitious. let me tell you something the s.m. threes that we've been talking about purple and romania currently there are something called a block one a they're projecting three additional phases the last of which will be a standard missile three block the block to be just about a week and a half ago lockheed martin announced they're opening a new training facility in alabama to test that missile. what we're seeing is the potential for a new we know that last november at the nato summit in lisbon portugal that the military alliance indorse the american missile shield plan for europe whether we're talking about as a potential adjunct to a first strike so it's meaning that in the event that the united states and its

nato allies would launch a what they would do it's described as a preemptive but in fact the first strike against a nation like russia the enter graded missile defense system is going to be in place to ensure that any missiles surviving that in their store could be knocked out by a connecticut or supplements this is the real danger of the system it is not their friends you know talk about north korea posing a missile threat to europe and having to place twenty four and some three interceptors in poland so just a sense of geography and trajectory that is you know beyond my ability to accomplish that paul thanks very much for your thoughts there international affairs expert from stop native movement talking to us live from the u.s. thank you. now european energy giants have signed up to break the long planned south stream gas pipeline a step closer to reality well the pipeline would run under the black sea and be another means of pumping russian gas directly into europe it's just like the north stream network which is almost operational artie's dmitry medvedev has more from

such a. the fact that gazprom has signed the shareholder agreement with its european partners companies from france italy and germany means that russia isn't the one step closer to realizing the transportation of gas from russia underneath the black sea to bulgaria and then eventually to austria and italy so directly to european consumers and this one step gives it an extreme advantage over rival project in a bucco pipeline which is outlined to deliver gas from central asia to europe and this has spurred concerns from europe for european and of dorothy's about the security of energy in europe and we have heard a comment from. the year european energy commissioner saying that this makes europe more reliant on russian gas and therefore this is jeopardizing energy

security in europe on the other hand actually the fact that russia will be delivering gas starting from a twenty fifteen directly to european consumers means that actually energy security will be what it by energy deliveries will be secure and russia won't have to deal with transit countries like ukraine which have created problems with the liveries to europe in the past also we have heard an offer of from. victory in the college the president has said suggested having the south stream go not underneath the black sea but through ukraine's territory making it cheap but gazprom has said that there's no point in doing that because the whole goal of the pipeline is to bypass transit countries. you can find out more on that story in our business bulletin that's coming up in about five minutes time. now imagine a community where you want for nothing life is easy and work is plenty well one such place did exist in

a remote russian outpost unfortunately not anymore it's not even a place within russia's borders it's actually on a norwegian archipelago called spitsbergen it was embodied the soviet dream a system where everyone's names were provided for well in a series of special reports for r t x on a boycott visited what was meant to be communism for example of a bright future. it's one of the busiest colonies in the arctic. restless. the brits called the island to search of food for their young noisy and disorderly like old big families the seagulls are the last reminder of the one family atmosphere that once permeated this arctic island becky eighty sounds coming from this building were just as. there today only instead of cries there were children streaks and laughter this apartment block was built specifically to house families and while adults were out working kids were left to their own devices

running down hallways and banging doors local residents usually referred to this building as the crazy how across the street was a female dormitory nicknamed paris given russian women's undying infatuation with everything french. further away was a male dormitory also known as london supposedly for the gentle manners of its inhabitants during its best years the settlement house more than a thousand people today it's a ghost town but the spirit of communism is lurking in that band and buildings. this settlement was called fire a myth because of the cube like mountains surrounding it thirty years ago it had the highest living standards soviet people could dream all salaries two to three times higher than in the mainland free food around rye bread social life in many ways it was a task for the brighter future that soviet people were trying to build. the ranks

northernmost statue of lenin is still peering into the nearby glacier. most of the parliament's residents worked at a coal mine it was never very profitable it maintained for the sake of keeping the soviet presence at the strategically placed archipelago not only an outpost this westernmost soviet settlement was also an ideological show window for the capitalist rivals and no resources for spirit to cut a dash a concert hall a library a rock band and even this half size olympic pool people here are reliving the true salvi a dream you have the best hopes the almost overnight when the soviet union fell apart all of a sudden people of realized the perfect life was just that a geopolitical parliament based on faulty economy and shaky ideology and if you your is the former paradise turned into a desperate hole people who are used to eating caviar for breakfast have to turn to

hunting to put food on the table. one of the families packed and laughed abandoning parra made in all its grandstanding glory this pillar was erected here with march palm on the settlements thirtieth or fortieth anniversary only to become its gravestone decades later when the last batch of coal was extracted from the local mine workers just laughed and here it was their way of raking over the coals for the life that always seemed too good to be true a kind of like an artsy pirate myth spitzbergen archipelago art i will back to back with the headlines the for now it's a business update with marina. hello and welcome to business here on araa to see the money starting to roll in as deals get struck at russia's international investment form and salty representatives from

thirty five countries are in the black sea resorts looking for investment opportunities live near putin has had a speech at the forum and artie's need to outlines the main points for us. what's been interesting about the volume of putin's speech is that it was rather upbeat despite the ongoing woes about sovereign debt in both europe and the united states that if a person says russia's economy is steadily recovering and is to reach pre-crisis levels in twenty twelve that means next year also the inflation this year will be no more than seven per cent has not improved and said also we heard a statement from the central bank president so you know what i have saying that in the years twenty twelve and twenty fourteen inflation will be going down around half a percentage point every year so this is already a record low level of inflation so i was pretty upbeat here too and the budget deficit will also be covered as the prime minister expects by the end of the year

so we will have a zero budget and next year it's expected to be around one and a half percent we're going to see a deficit of no no more than one hundred percent but if the overall external situation for example of oil prices change for the better then russia's budget maybe even balance next year too but also what's interesting in what lead in a person had to say is that russia needs to support the business of all types of business from small to medium and large enterprises several bodies will be created to support business and to even be ensured that small and medium businesses cave safe access to external markets and also lead in a person had this to say about what kind of investment russia's economy i mean we must strive not only to grow the economy but to improve economic efficiency through the development of production and innovation we need to change the structure of the economy our common goal is not to be a safe haven for speculative capital russia should create all the conditions for

so-called smart investments into creating and producing high tech. most importantly of course we have to see the shareholder agreement between gazprom. when it's european partners being side e.d.f. winters hall and any but also many deals within the crest of the region itself notably actually infrastructure and production projects and also this investment of forum here in sochi is a great platform for companies known companies to promote themselves as developing and expanding and we earlier talked to new coil and the company's president i get elected i've said that they are eyeing overseas investment buying upstream projects in the united states and in asia that also they will be increasing production overseas especially eastern europe in the next ten years will concentrate on projects like west couldn't into iraq that will significantly change the structure in volume of oil production in twenty fifteen we're implementing

a project in the north of the caspian sea which will also increase in production we think that in ten years our company will increase hydrocarbon production by twenty to thirty percent. before it is in full swing we're going to have more gas later on of course so more expert opinion and commentary so do join us if you can and offer the bulletins for updates. and let's take a look at the markets now brian says roy is the more this lead treading out one hundred twelve dollars on the same concerns about the european banks over disappointing jobs data from the u.s. as the limits in the gains the ws you know i his quotes in slightly lower at the low dollars per barrel after recording a decent upturn that they've been for european stocks are higher for fourth day amid speculation that action by policymakers will be able to ease the region's that crisis banking shares are leading the gains on the footsie and the facts has advanced even further points actually almost one percent this hour and the second

look at the russian markets they are in the red after seen some gains earlier this morning analysts also say investors in russia are hesitant to make good moves ahead of the finance minister summit in poland the r.t.s. has slipped below sixteen hundred points this hour and let's take a look at some of the index movers on the my sex energy majors are on the pressure with danceable news in the one percent and banking stocks are also down but both need to be ends for bad news in the around the half a percent the sour. that's how business looks the sour buy for now.

all the boxes are to me a visit because of the stories you wear the suit powerless to prevent pending violence on service border where the breakaway kossovo some security council members refused to support russia's call for talks possible appears determined to seize it to checkpoints the local serbs wanted to stop them by blocking the roads leading to the border posts. fierce fighting is underway in libya where former rebels claim they're advancing on two of the few remaining gadhafi strongholds the offensives uncertain but he will need our back by time said heavy weapons as well as a nato air ship. also the musher anticipated south stream gas.