starts on t.v. dot com. this is artsy here you had lines now too large of bomb blasts have shaken the syrian capital striking close to a government building just a day after a deadly attack on a pro-government t.v. station. e.u. leaders grow desperate to undo the ruinous effects of austerity on the union while member nations grow wary of german proposals of a political federation of europe. and here where it can sentiment in pakistan reaches new highs as the country's involvement in the u.s. led afghan war claims more pakistani lives nearly on a daily basis. and now the european missile defense program under the spotlight here are not. length.

hello again and welcome to spotify i'll do an album today my guest on the show is that you get put on. the looks of issues that are dividing us i mean the people living in russia and people who know us and whenever we watch television when we watch politicians speak on television we see for answers to questions like for example is there still a compromise possible around the a.b.m. miss south shields that the beautiful images are building on the continent from for example what's the future of the you raise new nuclear program and all that fuss

that's around the issue in the one another job and issues of course syria and is there a possibility that russia and the west act together somehow to cope with the crisis . to also do this and other questions my guest today is he going to give on the former russian foreign minister and he's also the president of the russian international affairs council a man who's very active today in building informal bridges between russian and foreign experts and the next. leader ivanov to prominent russian diplomat since joining the foreign ministry in the seventy's works in spain some of your trade and diplomatic missions two decades later he was appointed the russian ambassador there mr bernanke reached the top of his diplomatic career in the late ninety's when he was appointed foreign minister despite several cabinet. kept the procession from six figures. service we've driven off the russians purity council.

and now here lectures in the russian foreign affairs university and i have a national. survey of it welcome to our program on the hello. let's start with this is the us in new york press on with their plans in europe they keep saying russia is not any we do not see it is search our steps do not target russia so forgive me but russia does not buy this why so why this is just why is it that these assurances are not enough for us to mishear them every day right. such as russia you see the issue of euro atlantic security has been central to any debate over the past several years. and. in foreign affairs with extensive experience covering

both the cold war and the post cold war period. they've come to a common opinion about the reasons for our differences. it is the enduring distrust between our countries to share in the pretty steep and the key challenge now is finding a way to overcome it. we fear it could be even more dangerous than the distrust in the times of the cold war but almost all in fact you can easily see the rationale behind the mutual suspicions of the past opposing ideologies the confrontation between military blocs well today distrust is fed by different concerns is national discourse national so we have to articulate and overcome them we have had a number of debates involving extremely competent experts from russia the united states europe you all have extensive experience in both foreign policy and military of fast. we all share

a view that there is no need for any. new institutions to shore up our relations with no need for any high level treaties and there because treaties alone do not guarantee trust. but they can only be fostered through some specific steps through cooperation and some specific areas does not necessarily have to be something global it could be collaboration on mine a particular issues. and two we sit down together and start talking and looking for solutions we might not be able to develop a trustworthy relationship. but that they cannot happen overnight but we need to start working now both what the. us does not come on its own or some what we see the worst thing about this deficit of trust is that it gets passed on to further generations they are born with it even though they don't realize where it comes from the law and he said. what was said there's no need to say new treaties there's an urgent need to build confidence because treaties as search may

not be enough say that the entire system of international law has collapsed no or is collapsing that was would you agree with that. or absolutely regrettably today we have a situation where international law has been evolving. in school that has been developing over decades and is based on the principles that used to be considered indisputable by all which that law is now getting different interpretations of our subways we see how international law is stretched time and again. on the one hand it has to do with the sad fact that the new generations of politicians are not quite competent i fear for me on the other hand life itself isn't changing the principles developed earlier and no longer consistent with the realities there's no international law just like any other branch of knowledge needs to evolve. so what we need today is active cooperation in elaborating new principles of international

law. it would serve as a framework for political decision making but so far the international community has failed to get down to this work. that would be the platform of the un as before. well with international law is a separate branch of knowledge. the un is an organization that works according to international law were probably international laws developed by relevant national and international institutions. let's talk about missile defense when we interviewed our military officials to logic their u.s. partners have used the warned us of a first strike they see the european missile shield could be used as a source for a strike against russia what did what are we still afraid of rain over the preemptive strike by the west but i think that today this threat is rather overplayed but even it up us the spirit of that action that is the military that

bears the bulk of the responsibility for the national security so i don't think the time in a position to argue with them but i was two points but in order to avoid having such a threat. what you will up by threats of a first strike we need first of all you might understand under what circumstances when the first strike can be launched you know secondly you need to have some preliminary guarantees take some preventive measures that would rule out the possibility of one party catching the other off guard but i spoke for them because it's fair to assume just as much as we can be worried about a possible first strike but on the other side that's kind of the same concerns that they were so in order to root out this mutual suspicion over a possible first strike when you get a cooperative. cooperation is the key here together develop measures that would relieve this concern and the other this european missile defense system is certainly and the way to do it is to have

a joint. military exercises me as if you will have the military of both sides cooperating in my district. and i will give you a simple example said look there are no negotiations in the area of reduction of strategic offensive arms for twenty years. for all sorts of reasons so i should tell you honestly that russia was offering to resume these talks but the proposal does not find support from the us where your money is that only that presumes both presidents came to an agreement which the new treaty was developed within the matter of ten months. that's because a political decision was made to the experts or given both the task and the timeframe. so the experts worked out an agreement. as of today this treatment is signed ratified and in force was a very specific example of not giving you any generalizations there are no empty words there are more examples out but we need to have the same action plan for all

other issues including missile defense. well first comes a political decision obviously then military cooperation but because it is the military who bears the responsibility for the national security of each state you must then come relevant decisions to the put into practice. even and in this way along with others we will be able to overcome mutual distrust what was causing you mentioned that we're not getting any new treaties and more than that there's no some talk that all this wrestling over missile defense might go as far as russia withdrawal from the new start treaty or more of the wheat or do you think it would be hypothetically possible for russia to step out of the new start treaty you know that is sadly enough hypothetically everything is possible because any treaty gives you an option to step out of it including unilateral withdrawal and we could possible in practical terms yes it's false. in practical terms as well we had to

face such a situation when as you remember. in the early two thousand the united states unilaterally pulled out of the antiballistic missile treaty signed in one nine hundred seventy two. shock regrettably it's possible but i think it would be a step back rather than a step forward to the probably got us of the reasons every time a security arrangement is violated the threat is expanding and never the other way around so i think that we need to do all we can invest all our efforts into the bolstering different security frameworks but i. must talk just recently about international law that every relationship needs to be based on a legal framework and that this is especially true of such a sensitive area as arms reduction i think it requires patience the political will is this you need to resist the temptation to take up the easy way stepping out of a treaty. but it's as easy as tearing

a piece of paper. which of course. you've been involved in international politics for a very long time it may be just my perception but it seems to me that today's leaders are they are very young in the really lack the patients that you're talking about when you have the same question i can't say it's about being young on what's going to end of the day wisdom does not necessarily come with age only some people can be both young and wise others can be older yet not so i want to throw in this case that maybe down to the high pace of our century people want to get quick solutions quick results. you know but there are areas where results are not possible. it's possible send the internet you want to a query get instant search results but it doesn't work this way in life in the u.s. they call it the microwave generation isn't people used to getting it right away i was using. that yes absolutely but that's not how it works in law. i felt sure that

we see more of a life has become more complicated now. for instance the nuclear issue was on the agenda of a limited number of states today the number of stakeholders has already grown in the bush that it may close still and the scope of responsibility of the leaders of the stuff in this case of russia when we got to the states is fallen out that's why you go it's now the success of the negotiations between our states russia and america that will define that success of the global nuclear nonproliferation dr. says you get you on the poor russian part but life will be back shortly after we take a break so stay with us then that. will include. science technology innovation all the list of melons from around

russia we've got the huge earth covered. welcome back to spotlight i'm al gore and often just to remind you that my guest on the show today is either one off president of the russian international affairs

council since you stepped down as foreign minister your contacts with american in nato counterparts have been mostly unofficial and some us national but not to jump on that that have been more successful in bringing your point across yes or understanding the other party during these informal meetings the moment they need with boldness that was their. store or. he will today both in the us and in europe where we have many partners with a huge experience you personally they understand the boosting nuclear capabilities does not believed you anywhere. that i share with the world doesn't guarantee security. just as the unrestrained nato expansion doesn't. just push the target. is a bust with those i've been trying to hammer home to our counterparts with for

a long time you're finally they seem to understand it takes security doctrine or strategy it was miti of any state. long threats you would see terrorism nuclear proliferation organized crime. but that there are. a lot of years over there please do post. drug trafficking. cyber attacks or drug trafficking you simply can't fight these threats with a nuclear weapon or city you can't fight these threats with trunks and claims because they transmit planes and nuclear weapons may come handy the need to be a sense of proportion. it should not turn into a senseless race if we see what they need and what is the root cause of the differences between the us as there was the other nato allies with the usa as it cannot pay for your insecurity of its own pocket while the european countries have slashed the military budgets in the face of serious it's a question you economic and financial challenges are probably over because it does

not make sense to have the military spending at this level so we've got to do first need to understand where the threat is coming from and what the nature of the threat is right and then work out ways to respond so we have worked with those who are there were negotiations are the only way to understand the nature of the threat but there is going to what ironically though most of the basic. soundman treaties were signed in the times of the cold was it with the what was it was a. star that was out of beer it's not only fair there is another thing which is sometimes overlooked here but as a professional i think it could be as important as anything else that she has the right back then negotiations between the countries she ran on a permanent basis. for us and the u.s.s.r. set up dedicated delegations to work nonstop so use them but i would use task forces stay young they would come over to moscow for two weeks travel back to

geneva vienna or elsewhere because this was a continuous process as a diplomat of i would say that you cannot reach any agreements without regard to negotiations. any agreements or arrangements of the fruit of negotiations because it took ten years to work out some sign the first nuclear arms reduction treaty helsinki final act two before you spoke of it was signed after ten years of talks in fact all of them were very tough negotiations you know what are they produced to result in the stability of post-war europe rested on the principles set forth in the helsinki final act this is the power of a fundamental basic treaty. you said it's useless to expand nuclear arsenals and there is another thing which seems useless at least to me and correct me if i'm wrong the u.s. is deploying a missile shield in europe which moscow says is directed against russia why on earth would they need a system to. refresh his submarines armed with nuclear missiles and that's where

first strike would come from the missile shield obviously would not help what is it a forge and. yes ma'am express my personal opinion just casual i would say that the missile defense system that the u.s. is currently developing. along with nato. has not been designed for a nuclear strike against russia but there was always a threat to our country. at least not at this stage. to share the american rationale. which is just the first partition i do not think that this is the original goal of the original target of the shield so unfortunately our partners primarily the us did not take into account the concerns of the countries including some of their allies. but almost any military system and the defense shield is no exception as after could be at some point reconfigured made to work against your interests we admit that it could pose no threat at this very

moment but we know that the system will evolve its capabilities will increase so after the third and particularly after the fourth phase the way it is implemented turning it into a formidable in-depth defense arrangement could potentially. that's an important reservation intentionally become a threat but unfortunately the military has to view is essential threat as a threat to this is why we need to take steps to prevent any threats including potential ones. which you've said reminds me of the argument we're all these systems provide for feeling of security making people mistakenly believe themselves immune to the cheerful kind of system. that. somebody said just only a few days ago the europeans and the european missile defense network has become

they were provisionally a parishioner. provisionally operation mosque immediately responded well known thing we had tested a new type of new intercontinental missiles that can penetrate any defense and they get cut out his nation. we are there now that we have these missiles stuff we think is concerns over european missile defense doesn't mean we're even in the dispute is over it will cover the war it is quite the opposite. it's something dangerous going on up as you have feared that over process. you know with will always come up to me with new ideas. but sadly enough that i what if an idea doesn't move along a construct of the past it is bound to take a destructive. or it's. difficult to say for sure just like. either side i'll choose now if. there is one thing i can vouch for. the destructive scenario will bring about political persecution amik psychological

and eventually military consequences you're going to both sides share. if. the latter will hopefully not happen. with. this is why i believe this development will only do harm to everyone because we should choose a different direction to move along usually she should not be. one more question mr even of. school be hosting negotiations on iran's nuclear program next week when the cup would do you think russia can be expected to offer a trade of over iran's nuclear program he can for certain concessions with regard to missile defense in europe but i mean. him about. it would in fact. them is little but these kinds of speculations. they do circulate sometimes it international conferences computer the large one i spoke

out there the day of the coup it is difficult for me to understand why some piece leaves are suggesting russia is trying to trade something isn't that when diplomacy is about use diplomacy diplomacy is about something different you cannot trade a principle secure the peace and it is a matter of principle here the rounds nuclear program is by no means a bargaining chip which are sitting on the contrary it is a very serious issue poses a potential threat to russia and other actors including europe and the us troops these two so trading this issue is out of the question was near ready to go to russia has always been taking a very active stance. and the stance is absolutely clear. yet some of our partners only think in terms is un resolutions imposing new sanctions this is a primitive oversimplified approach to the problem is far deeper. we need to

draw a line here as the train what iran has a vested right to it what it has no right to do on the meat but i want iran should be able to do what it is entitled to that is nuclear activities for peaceful purposes if this question is of national importance to iran i don't know a single rainy and politician with a strategic vision would give up on the nuclear program that's like a national idea to them. of the right to ask but this is not a whim of some politician or a group of politicians but it's still the should be a clear line iran is not allowed to cross. or stand up and this line has been defined as it is incumbent upon international community members to take a war donated action in this respect. when the main global actors that is russia and the us s. fail to agree on a common approach those who seek to breach norms and principles will naturally take advantage of it this is another reason why the us russia coordination is

a substantial that i see secure because that. is backing the assad regime a matter of principle for us to just like the iranian issue but it's a potential threat and. what i'm saying to you now you have to do i have already articulated many times various international meetings is that of the reach of completion of syria is a larger deal not to be above assad's presidency but also a place i recently reminded my western counterparts. the crisis in the balkans with. the bulk of that time i western counterparts to approach me because you say. plays a key role in settling the balkan crisis and she were. here when asked what the role of the church is about exactly how they would answer what do you have to go to belgrade that they will persuade milosevic italy as you can. during the iraq crisis

or they would also tell me i had a key role in settling the matter. visit hussein and tell him to leave but also a sense. of what this simplified or even primitive approach as i would put it makes it impossible to solve any issues whatsoever the first thing to do in syria is to stop the violence by the warring parties and russia is ready to help you get the picture second you need to determine what the transitional period will be like they don't want terms the transfer of power will take place. it is an issue of national. international concern. the third thing sadly is often glossed over by western counterparts than we do cash who will be in power in syria after ice crisis at the rookies. cannot allow the libyans where after a violent overthrow of its leader the country was left there seems to be to its own devices to take place in syria so will a portion of us while the libyan crisis is

a domestic a pharisee with the situation in syria may trigger an explosion of course the whole middle east was that of your emotions that are with two outs of evolution of us the king thank you thank you very much for being with us and just a reminder that my guest on the show today was a good piano former russian foreign minister and the president of the russian international efforts the spotlight will be back with more first hand comment on what's going on in and outside russia until then stay on r.t. and take.

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