confront a group of five drunk guys were just as big as you who are acting like idiots on the street but doing so with ten stone sober militiaman buddies could provide a much more convincing argument for the drunkard's this could be a big step forward for democracy when you actually have at least a scrap of power or control over the events in your neighborhood then you were sure feel like people actually have a lot of power and this could be good for the country but that's just my opinion. hello and welcome to sophie and co i'm sophie shevardnadze a solution to syria's chemical weapons is finding its way to reality here inspectors are now in the war zone to deal with whatever chemical stockpiles they

may find it's been the biggest triumph or the one on syria after earshot of seemingly fruitless talks on its civil war the outcome could be much needed proof that in the world of waging conflicts and disagreements the united nations still has a place. president's speech and global attention every year the u.n. general assembly brings together world leaders the maid and never talk of the circumstances but do they hear each other on the honest about their intentions when the world is watching do they care about finding a solution or is their agenda the only thing that mattered was syria as a litmus test we can now see whether the u.n. still makes sense. our guest today is that it should be russia's and voyage to the united nations mr churkin it's great to have you on the program with us today. now

the resolution on syria is obviously so the resolution on syria is obviously a victory for russian diplomacy but the resolution has in a way also restored the u.s. credibility that was kind of lost in recent years so with the inability to make a joint decision it at one time saying do you think or we'll see more decisions like that well i hope we will i mean the most important thing about this resolution is that it's really paving the way for the implementation of this project of eliminating all chemical weapons. in syria and making sure that no chemical attacks can be possible in the future so it's a very good success for russia and i think good success with it for the united states because we have been working together very closely with our american colleagues on this and of this resolution allowed the united states to avoid this very sorely and delicate issue of the possibility of use of force in syria of course for us it's a very important result of the option of this resolution is that the use of force in syria is not regarded anymore internationally as something which. can be

regarded as a as an imminent threat so now all the focus is on the specific work which needs to be done for the elimination of chemical weapons in syria and it's very encouraging that things are moving very fast do you think this things are achievable in a timeframe of the resolution. no i think of that i think they're achievable there the time frames are coincide with the with the framework agreement which was reached by russia in the united states engineer in the us on september fourteenth this is a difficult schedule but i think there is reason to believe that this is a realistic schedule provided there is cooperation from the syrian government which we see is there and also provided there is required cooperation from various opposition groups one important element of this resolution twenty one eighteen is that it makes demands and not only on the government of syria but also on various

a position groups of them most of them i was going to. do you trust that either side in syria to comply do you think both sides will comply. well the way we hope they will but that's not just a matter of trust the resolution does say that should there be. failure to comply by any of the parties and syria then this matter will be considered by the un security council which measures will be taken and those could be various measures under chapter seven of the human charter including various measures with regard to the opposition groups of position figures which could be. could be. making problems for the implementation of this of this resolution and also what i think is important and encouraging is that it's not just. the united states it's the international community who is interested in having this project of the

elimination of chemical weapons and syria succeed clearly israel has a lot to gain from that because they have been regarding the chemical arsenal in syria as something which can have a very dramatic impact on the security of israel i think the countries of the region should be interested in that because there are many asian of chemical weapons and syria would pave the way into tackling the very difficult problem of creating in the middle east is own free of chemical of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery and then there is another incentive for this thing to succeed and this is that it will create a political momentum which will allow us to move from from an agreement on chemical weapons in syria to an agreement on a political settlement of the crisis in that country and convening the geneva two conference the supporters of the use of force in

a resolution argue that at the end of the day with or without the resolution there is no mechanism to ensure that syria complies how do you respond to that. well there is a mechanism of course and this is what this w. organization is all about that are inspectors who are going to be there and there is a strong language in the documents of this organization of the book admission of chemical weapons strong language in there is allusion which has been adopted that they will have access to all the sites and individuals which have which are relevant to the. to the objective the elimination of chemical weapons so the whole thing will be very subtly verified it's not that. it's going to be done a done a random and. the words of the syrian government or anybody else will be simply taken in without checking on those words but that incidentally i have to add the

initial information which was provided by the syrian government was very good it was our american colleagues who of course are additional are suspicious of everything the syrian government does they are rated the quality of that information as a four plus in five a kind of a five grade system so it's a very high mark and that every indication is that the syrian government is taking this very very seriously and is working well together with the with the international community on this issue but the u.s. and the french intelligence services have given russia evidence status suggesting that gas attacks in damascus were launched from military base controlled by the hundred fourth brigade of the syrian guard who three days earlier were handing out gas masks barack obama told this to letting their putin in st petersburg at the g. twenty summit date the russian side look at this information. well. you're not quite sure what information you're referring to because actually as far as i

know we have not received much information i mean we have a heard some conclusions well known conclusions from the united states a four page a. document which was released by the u.s. government saying that they concluded that on august twenty one it was the syrian government who conducted that horrible attack in in the neighborhood not far from damascus actually on the on the sort of fringes of the city of damascus but we have not seen any proof of those conclusions also you will recall that after there was a delay in investigating the march nineteenth incident at the request of the syrian government our experts conducted an investigation and they produced a very. detailed report and this is a big difference between our lines of thinking and the american line of thinking and acting because we produced the report and we gave the report to the secretary and we gave the report to the americans and some others members of the security

council we did not share just the conclusions we share the report there is this area now and you let your report that sad that it is the syrian rebels who are used to chemical weapons because i do remember absolutely absolutely that that yes that that that was the report which we sort of made public essential in july or actually gave it to the secretariat and some members of the security council which in our view concluded quite strongly and we gave the evidence and the technical details why we came to that conclusion that homemade chemical. zarin was used a homemade project oil was used to carry out carry out that are back and it's quite telling that on august twenty one we see or we were told by their source from canadia that that was basically the same type of xyron we. it was used on march nineteenth only of slightly higher quality so in our view it confirms our strong suspicion of not conviction but i would say probably would be accurate more more

accurate to say conviction that the august twenty one incident or twenty one use of chemical weapons was also something that was generating from the opposition rather than from the government opposition by way of provocation trying to lead to foreign . military intervention into an american strike etc etc but this is another saying which will need to look at in the security council by the end of october and. we will hold that then we'll have more clarity on that incidentally i think that was really a tragic mistake. to put it mildly by our western colleagues who were interfering in the rapid investigation of march one thousand accident because or incident because i think that had that investigation taken place on a timely basis immediately it could have well prevented the tragic use of chemical weapons on the twenty first of august but now of course we can only deal with the

consequences of those tragic events can i ask you really briefly before we take a break i mean there is no one opinion about this possible strike on syria some people are carriker rickly against in america other people are saying that you know obama is to solve he should have gone ahead with the whole thing have you come across an opinion different from what the state officials are saying in public behind the scenes like have you spoken to your counterpart for example in the u.n. do they have a different opinion behind the scenes. well of course omar but not talking about my american colleagues because i don't want to sort of talk publicly about the conversations we have with them and of course they mostly stick to their official line about the new united nations of course another so it's an obvious thing i believe that that the military strike. or whatever. the dramatic dramatic consequences and the unpredictable consequences which it

could have created much more of a mess than we actually already have in syria and then. it would have made the war in syria an american war in syria there is really no alternative to a political settlement and there is another very important reason for that and there is another very important reason to i mean for to put an end to it it's that the the terrorists al qaeda affiliated groups are really gaining the upper hand visibly the so-called moderate opposition in syria so unless there is a political deal between the government and the so-called moderate opposition they will not be able to overcome the terrorist onslaught and syria will be facing the prospect on the international community of syria becoming a kind of platform for. terrorist activity in the region in the region

and beyond and after the break in and the peacemaker is that possible he steals the show on the un general assembly floor stay with us. with the averting of war with. syria at the last second and the opening of some kind of dialogue with iran it would appear washington's neo-cons an armchair generals are falling on hard times ever since the end of the cold war washington has always been in need of an enemy talking to iran certainly is one of their worst nightmares so is there a plan b. . i know c.n.n. the m s n b c news have taken some slightly but the fact is i admire their

commitment to cover all sides of the story just in case one of them happens to be accurate. that was funny but it's close and for the truth from the right think. it's because when full attention and the mainstream media works side by side with joe actually on here is going to be coming back. at our teen years we have a different breed. ok. because the news of the world just is not this funny i'm not laughing dammit i'm not how. you guys talk to the jokes well handed to me i said i've got to.

and i would think. welcome back to the show we're talking to tell us your care russia special envoy to the united nations so another big story is iran space for performance at the general assembly was it expected. it was hoped for i would i don't think it was expected but there were some. original indications that the new iranian president

might want to take a different line. compared with his. but we'll see what happens and we will have just a few days to wait because in the mid october they are going to have a first meeting of the group of six with the with the iranians. continue the negotiations on the iranian nuclear issue but do you believe this possible thaw in a relationship is purely a result of or has come into office in iran or have circumstances forced a u.s. to shift its stance well it's hard for me to to speak curveball to the united states called or will ship their stance but i think the united states has a very strong vested interest in having this issue of iranian nuclear. program program resolved peacefully that would mean that the international community would have assurance that iran does not have some clandestine military

program that would mean having certain. limitations on the way iran conducts their business in that space for nuclear program but of the same time that would involve what the run ins want to achieve and this is sort of lifting of course all the sanctions and also allowing them to conduct a. peaceful nuclear program including in the region and again within certain parameters to be agreed upon between them and the six in a way which would not see interference from others of others trying to introduce some sanctions on them because they are doing that well in addition of course with . the negotiations with the six there will have to resolve their. longstanding contacts and issues with the international atomic energy agency because they are the ones who are negotiating with iran on the matter of. alleged.

activity in the nuclear field associated possibly with the production of nuclear weapons past nuclear activity so there are two tracks there and both have to dealt with have to be dealt with effectively in order for for. the problem to be put to rest after all those years of cooperation incidentally one specific thing which i think could happen as you know one issue which has not yet been resolved for the purpose of convening the geneva two conference is whether iran should participate or not we very strongly believe that they should because they are an active player there and they are all. cannot be ignored and their support for an ultimate deal would be very important to our western. western countries our western colleagues are objecting to that saying that the iran's position towards syria is not constructive enough but i believe that should there

be movement on the nuclear front of them their position might in a change also with regard to iran's participation in the geneva two talks on syria so there is there is a lot which can be happening in a positive way should the be a real movement between iran and the six the international community with regard to their nuclear program providing assurance that it's a peaceful program but also lifting all the sanctions on that. allowing iran to operate this nuclear program freely without any interference so what is raul is not about to stop pushing for action to carve iran's nuclear program do you think we'll see obama pay even less attention to that now that there is a chance to hear chance for a clearer communications with iran between the united states and iran. well i

cannot i cannot speak for the americans but i'm sure that president obama has to pay a lot of attention to the views of the israeli as a yes he had a meeting with prime minister netanyahu in the white house so the in the united states they cannot possibly ignore their opinion of the israelis but also try to point out in part in my remarks believe that the israelis have a very strong interest in the success of those talks as well because. they will not benefit either in the long run should there be a military strike they may have some kind of short term satisfaction but in the long term i think the security of israel will suffer should there be a military strike in this context. the nuclear program in the round so i think that the israeli is making no secret of their doubts about their iranian sincerity and

certainly will be insisting on double checking on everything the iranians are saying and negotiating positions they are putting on the table but. the final outcome will not be. contrary to the israeli security interests yes if the talks are successful and the problem is resolved peacefully now on a different subject with hugo chavez gone ahmadinejad out of power and more moderate rouhani in the u.n. general assembly is a little bit less of a show now are they worse is of other countries not seen as leading nations at all nor everybody everybody is good in the united nations and i think it's a good thing that. such kind of a situations of interest do things which are more propaganda. actual political life is better provides for a healthier. political debate i remember some media reports the general

assembly session of the general assembly was over after just two or three days of the general debate in fact that the general debate is only ending on the first first of october much important discussion has taken place in the course of the statement by foreign minister lavrov some important statements for from. other countries so the value i think of the general debate on the general assembly is only enhanced. at times and is not distracted by sometimes showmanship or kind of exchanges which kedge of the media but are not helpful or not even the relevant to the subject matter of the actual problems of the united nations have to deal with president obama recently talked about american exceptionalism when it comes to world matter some think he was criticized for bad lighting and puts in what has to change for the u.s. to become more to screech in dealing with conflict zones and even how they describe

their role in the international community. well let me say what president putin said in his article in the new york times was. very well understood by i think a large. part of the international community where had many colleagues coming up to us and saying how much they appreciated what the president wouldn't have to say in that article in the in the new york times but we have to reckon with this philosophy of the united states it's not just president obama i think it's part of american ideology is that they happen to believe that the united states is unique unique nation it's. sometimes they talk about it in different ways. previously president obama made a lengthy statement about that i think in strasbourg two or three years ago where he said well we believe that we are unique greece may believe that it is unique etc etc but i think with all due respect present the bomber was

a little coy at that point describing this problem because of course in the united states it's more than that part of the kind of american ideology is that is the believe that the united states is really this has got something right to be or an obligation to be above everybody else and therefore to like in various situations dictate the terms of events and in fact the latest round of discussion on this matter and president putin's article was prompted by. by the fact that president obama mentioned that in the context of his intention on the intention of the united states to use force outside of the framework of international law that of course is very dangerous when. we all can think about our countries in a very very affectionate ways and of course we russians. love our country and

believe it's a very special country as well but that does not lead us to the conclusion that we can. outside of the framework of international law on the other hand quite the contrary where we keep stressing that international law must be respected so there is a certain predicament i think the united states has to face and that they need to understand and present which is article i. helped them do that this line has no admirers in the international community the one they say that the lot a lot of shoulder is being shrug of the what lots of eyebrows are raised for instance in the corridors of the united nations but it's not something which people internationally find attractive so it's it's sort of a reality which you have to reckon with and i called. american colleagues will also reckon with that reality as they were reminded. of by president putin

and shortly i want to turn your attention to another issue that hasn't really been spoken about widely for example the christian issue in the middle east and in syria the christian town of mali is constantly being hit and it's almost been leveled in addition to that christians from all around the middle east are fleeing the region is the un finally willing to us to address this issue. well well you know you're talking about the middle east i would say that this is what you said was something of an overstatement there are serious problems and there are a lot of discussions in that is four months in the united nations of those problems and they have to be dealt with country by country generally speaking we're very disturbed by going to get a bit of a shock in the middle east especially of the interface and into the communal differences within the muslim religion between various religions this is something

which is very dangerous and which has to be dealt with in syria this is a particularly stark problem in the in the in the course of the conflict this is another reason to put an end to it as quickly as possible and to reach political accommodation to bring about a situation in syria where all religious groups including the christians could live in peace with others and could not be would not be subjected to oppression persecution and violence from whoever so this is an important goal we keep in mind as it would try to move towards a political settlement in syria that's it for today we're talking to russia's ambassador to the united nations we got it thanks for being with us here at south think that we'll see you next time.

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the olympic torch is on its epic journey to structure. one hundred twenty three days. through two thousand and nine hundred towns and cities of russia. relayed by fourteen thousand people or sixty five thousand come.

russian. a chemical weapons attack. by saudi arabia. an investigation. across the country.