i. think. there's an overriding anti russian sentiment in the u.s. congress that's the view of russia's foreign minister who met with his american counterpart on the sidelines of the major forum in asia. and the week's top stories president trump signs a new russia sanctions bill angering several of america's key allies moscow describes it is declaring a full scale trade war plus the pressure to step down from korea to the u.n. security council vote unanimously for tough new sanctions on pyongyang over its missile. to kid dictator. venezuelan president is also targeted by u.s. restrictions over his from ation of

a controversial new legislative body that would rewrite the constitution. for the welcome the latest development and look back at what's been happening over the last seven days as well you watch in the weekly here on r.t. international now moscow's top diplomat says it's strong and t. russian sentiment in the u.s. congress that has led to the latest downturn in relations between the two countries made the comment at a meeting with his american counterpart rex tillerson earlier today richie joins us now for more details he's been following events there in the philippines the dear what else was said today well i just want to point out that it was a very lengthy meeting it seemed like a very friendly meeting the two gentlemen seem like they were getting on very well lots. laughing and joking and i also need to point out it was the first face to

face meeting after new sanctions clean and pose so what did they talk about first well surprise surprise sanctions lover of explained why russia decided to take the action that it did following the imposing of those sanctions. he was interested in our response to the empty russia sanctions bill that was passed in the u.s. congress we explained to him what was behind the actions that we took off the long expecting that the u.s. would not choose the path of confrontation but unfortunately the resupply back to treat of american lawmakers prevented that what's interesting about this is that prior to this meeting in manila to listen has been very vocal publicly about his discontent about the new russia sanctions let's take a listen. to the action by the. congress to put these charges implosion the way they do i know the president more are very happy about that we were clear that we

didn't think it was going to be helpful to our efforts but that's the decision that i made that made it very overwhelming why i would do. so sanctions aside what else did they talk about well they talked about how they could continue to cooperate in the future one of the areas that they talked about was syria they agreed that they would continue dialogue about how they can go forward with the peace process they also talked about north korea both sides opposed the missile testing and the military exercises and again they agreed to keep the dialogue open between the two countries now we can't ignore the fact that the u.s. russia relations are at an all time low as is seen by the international community at the moment so the question is will the actions come to fruition following this what seems to be a very positive meeting. it's a question of waiting and seeing isn't it thankfully there that was in the direct cheaters there let's get the thoughts now virtually smart in place to say joins us

now martin good afternoon how do you think how successful do you think this meeting was today between lavrov and to listen given the state of relations between the two countries. well i suppose you could say that the fact that meetings taking place at all given the rhetoric that's been coming out of the united states over the past week or so is a positive development and there's many things about which obviously there is no agreements and the situation has become much more tense as a result of these votes in the congress in the senate on sanctions on russia that doesn't mean that some business can't be done and as we saw in the u.n. security council there was a unanimous position on north korea. which the american side wants that sort of cooperation to continue they need to keep a dialogue going with the russians and voice versa but i suppose martin given the sanctions that are in place it does make it very difficult to move forward in any

great speed isn't it. it is but i mean we are where we are it's very disappointing that the political class in the us seems have collectively lost its marbles in this way i mean they've toyed the hands of their own negotiators which you know you don't usually do that if you go in the common sense so we're now stuck in a bit of a bit of a norm pass but it reminds me of what happened during the vietnam war where every week in paris the vietnamese negotiators would meet with american negotiators or they would often sit there for an hour and say nothing to each of the writs all this was nothing to talk about but they carried on meeting and that's what you've got to do however bad it gets. talking about however bad it gets me lavrov was saying today that there is a huge amount of risk of failure in congress at the moment is that a fair comment. i think it is a mean what's happened i mean if you actually look at the detail of the so-called hacking scandal it's now coming out of their natural fact it was probably leaked to

the support the emails which showed the rigging of the democratic primaries was leaked rich it was subsequently murdered seymour hersh the journalist has been quoted this week on this one is usually right about these things but they've all completely lost track of what the original story was and convince themselves that the russians have rigged their election which i think is you know patiently in the absurd idea but you can see throughout history that when you get a college group think like that going people are so frightened of stepping outside the law and that everybody else is taking the you know they distend up with the with the ridiculous threads which are sure and just finally martin i mean you surprised that trump and to listen expressed such public discontent with congress the way they did. world not really because in the sense that i write about is a pencil and said that his boss is wrong and the simpsons are correct but of course increasingly what we see is that trump is

a beleaguered in his own war the fact that he didn't actually win the popular vote and all the rest because the american system is actually a bit of a shambolic looser situation where it's very hard for the russian side to work out who's actually in charge although the do actually seem to be an awful lot of uniforms at the top on the other side no you might draw the conclusion that they're the ones who call the shots and not the politicians ok martin that will leave it there nice to talk to you there is martin summers journalist there in the u.k. thank you. thank you so as we have been hearing relations between russia and the united states took another hit on wednesday is donald trump put his signature to that new sanctions bill the measures have angered a number of america's allies in europe to say their economic interests are being ignored even president trump himself was reluctant to sign the law saying it limits his power to shape foreign policy. while i favor tough measures to punish and deter aggressive and destabilizing behavior by north korea and russia this legislation is

significantly flawed and its haste to pass this legislation the congress included a number of clearly unconstitutional provisions those provisions purport to displace the president's exclusive constitutional authority and those comments live a lot of questions and the way the president states that even though he stands for legislation that's unconstitutional he signed off on it as president trump swore an oath to preserve protect and defend the constitution of the united states but he seems to be openly doing the opposite upon approving the thanks on this bill of course is it is a terrible bill. benefits the people of no contrary not the united states not germany not all three or in a way not russia syria not not any of the people is the constitutional crisis our government is set up to where there are three branches that constantly

struggle one against the other. so that in itself is not totally unexpected but i do believe that the side shows are out of heaping with the traditions of the united states and how our government functions but what looks like a constitutional crisis brewing in the us is not the only problem trump is facing sanctions that hit russia's energy and defense sector are in theory being america's partners in europe those who work with moscow and those areas. the sanctions passed by the u.s. congress and accepted by the u.s. president mean that we have abandoned the concept of units foreign policy issues or other deadly connected to american economic interests to say we want to limit russian gas in the european market so that we can sell american gas there instead this is something that we cannot accept so these sanctions seem to be leaving hard . anyone happy trumps being forced to go against its constitutional beliefs

america's closest european allies go on the defensive to counter what they see as a matter is potentially in violation of international law and gets worse revelations taken further head first there is no hope for any improvement of our relations with the new american administration second a total trade war has been declared on russia the trumpet ministration has demonstrated complete impotence and the good of all executive power to congress in the most humiliating way when these statements from trump and it with the president claiming that he can make far better deals with foreign countries than congress but with measures such as these being passed could maybe prevent it from doing just that the deep state. and the media are very very powerful and they can put a lot of pressure on the president so they ganged up on him he went ahead and signed it i think it was more like a political thing but there are some those who koch qualified to be her participants in the deep state they are determined they are determined almost obsessed with making sure that there is no friendship between the united states and

russia between putin and trabi even when the russian the soviet union existed we actually were quite willing you know when necessary to talk and work out some problems but now we're moving in the other direction well the new sanctions law does give congress the power to block the president from easing sanctions almost go donald trump has branded that legislation unconstitutional and you prefer breaks down what's been happening in washington i guess no president would like to be. shoes right now times really are getting as tough as they can get for the president you know being america's top man in charge but at the same tommy think of it not being able to exercise his power and even worse being cornered into making the decisions he doesn't why. and to make just to keep order as we've been hearing from

the white house spokesperson who's been explaining that very signature under that sanctions bill president signed that countering america's adversaries through sanctions act congress has encroached on the power of the presidency and he signed it in the interest of national unity as we have been seeing both the democrats will that is kind of obvious but also of course the republican party which is technically true party teaming up against the president and giving him quite a drubbing month after month we kept her weak and the criticism and the pressure has been building up what was proposed yesterday is not what this party stands for i worry about the president's understanding of some of these issues and a ludicrous pretend hate campaign this president does not care about the united states of america so in these kind of circumstances under so much pressure it is little surprise that donald trump is giving in to the congress and you might argue that this really puts america on the brink of

a constitutional crisis. meanwhile sweeping new sanctions against north korea in the u.s. drafted resolution will unanimously agreed on by the u.n. security council late saturday they do ban north korean exports of coal metals and seafood and should reduce its export revenue by a back to third which would amount to roughly a billion dollars a year from an investment is also being built the move comes in response to north korea's continued. russia believe sanctions should be the starting point for future dialogue with north korea un members agree although there are signs that washington is still considering a military option every military expert says there is no good military option there all. there is an option to destroy north korea's program in north korea itself he's not president the ability of this madman to have a missile that hit america if there's going to be

a war to stop it will be over there. they're going to die over there and they're not going to die here in these told me that. that may be provocative but not really however america's top diplomat rex tillerson says his country would like dialogue with people young at some point although one expert told us the chances of that happening already decreasing if you're thinking in terms of dialogue no if anything . less. than before but if you're being a factor of. imposing a collective a partition we're not going to tire a north korean population and bring about the economic collapse of north korea are going to be a factor of course unfortunately you're thanks to the thought draconian. the only increase you like record of a conflict or increase tensions at the very least. well some of those seem to be sanctions season this year with venezuela also joining the restrictions club the u.s. treasuries now imposing tough measures against president majority there that after

members were elected to a new legislative body which critics say will weaken the opposition in venezuela. all. subject to u.s. jurisdiction are frozen and u.s. persons are prohibited from dealing with. the new assembly will be tasked with rewriting the constitution and will have the power to dissolve the current parliament the opposition defied a ban on public protest and denounce the election as a power grab by president police in the capital deployed to gas and rubber bullets in clashes with furious opposition supporters. well the u.s.

state department branded last sunday's vote is illegitimate and it also describes president to raise leadership as a dictatorship however when it comes to sanctions that does seem to be one sphere that's off limits sanctions against oil. that what i will say is we will monitor all of our options it seems we all knew about this toxic relationship. is a dictator who disregards the will of the venezuelan people not are the only true to me that there are literally destroying know how to deal with that lawyer out of their name. but come into it probably to the government. by letting its own constitution. pump oil into the equation and politics is brushed straight under the carpet his facts of how black gold unites them. protect the american states being the

third largest exporter of crude to the u.s. and number six growing up seven percent to around six hundred seventy thousand barrels a day when it stopped that absolutely know the citgo petroleum corporation based in texas belongs to wait for it is wait state owned oil company which means the country has access to these refineries the total capacity of about seven hundred forty nine thousand barrels per day so far the sanctions that have been a mention have been against refined venezuelan oil products and against individuals in the venezuelan government they have not been for the importation of crude the fact that they're not including crude speaks to that. interdependence and the fact that us all producers and export are don't want to up the market and potentially that ten percent extraction of venezuelan oil could spike us gasoline prices as well so i think that that is the concern. you watch and we can hear not

a still to come for you with least trying to stop people traffickers in the mediterranean but can't seem to get migrant charities on board to help we'll tell you why after the break. live.

seemed wrong but. just don't. let me. get to shape out these days. and in the game because the trail. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. welcome back the week italy's attempts to get a grip on the migrant crisis has hit another setback after aid groups carrying out rescue missions in the mediterranean refused to sign a so-called code of conduct the new rules state that police must be allowed on board rescue ships while also preventing boats transferring refugees to other vessels insisting ngo's take migrants to italian ports themselves and it will ban

phone calls to or flares in case they are being used to signal to people smugglers when the coast is clear if we insist the migrant rescue code is mandatory and anyone refusing to sign it will face consequences the medical charity doctors without borders believes it could actually put people in peril. goes against our mission which is to save lives it goes against this really goes against our hearts what we are as a medical and humanitarian organization and it's not something that. the code has partially been drawn up after some n.g.o.s were accused of acting as a taxi service working alongside people traffickers to get migrants into europe is a concern has been repeatedly voiced to you by a group known as defense europe the anti migrant movement even crowd funded a mediterranean mission to monitor the work of the ngos. because we are gainst mass immigration to europe wants to stop this madness this n.g.

all madness in the motor and you know because everybody's just talking in the what is acting feeling you're stepping in what you're doing you're going to do is you're going to all watch the and you also and i think what they're doing there is it's nothing to it because they're actually a support factor and basically they are the reason for this mess migration the other recent people drowning and the are making a fortune for this human trafficking rings in libya destabilizing the country i think the future for i forgot and like europe the future of europe cannot be to become a second africa. our us democratic congresswoman has gone on t.v. calling on her party to pursue the impeachment of russia's president or is not what it seems though she actually got putin confused with their own country's number two there's a chance i'll be better than trump if he were oh as one with finish where trump we have to go and get bookings that he's next putting up heads up it california representative maxine waters there who's known for her strict anti russia's stance

you might also remember that she made a similar blunder involving president putin back in february to. putin is continue when to advance and to korea korea. or despite maxine waters words there russia of course is not advancing either in north korea or south korea although we will leave it up to you to decide what she might have been insinuated. that syria has called on the u.n. to end what it calls washington's massacres against its civilians the u.s. led international coalition continues to commit massacres against innocent syrian civilians but conducting systematic asterix those attacks contributed to the spread of chaos killing and destruction over six hundred people have been killed in u.s. led coalition airstrikes in syria. iraq over the course of three years although more than four hundred reports of possible civilian casualties are yet to be

examined according to operation hare and resolve own data the u.k. based transparency group was however estimates that almost five thousand people have died in coalition air bombardment since the start of the operation in may the u.s. defense secretary said such losses were inevitable. casualties are a fact of life in this sort of situation in syria thousands are still fleeing the ravages of war there plus in neighboring iraq one british aid worker described scenes of armageddon when she visited the liberated city of mosul political analyst patrick henson says that americans only see military successes on their t.v. . no surprise the coalition is going to want to under play any of the sort of casualties numbers for civilians from the operations in mosul and in iraq as well because it's political you know the whole operation against isis is political if

you're in the united states it's all about the theater of what the u.s. is achieving whether it's under president obama or whether it's under president trump and everything's kind of viewed through that weird kaleidoscope in the united states and it has nothing to do with what's going on the ground. in lebanon hezbollah fighters managed to recapture al nusra militants final stronghold in the country earlier this week the location is the mountains in eastern lebanon right next to the syrian border both countries have conducted to joint offensive to drive an hour from drive from that mountainous area. not so ended just a few days ago and you can still see the remnants of that with bullets and shells all strewn across the floor and we've seen burnt out vehicles on the way up here

and got victory against hezbollah managed to capture this cave which was used by terrorists as a base so we can go inside and have a look around. inside the cave we made a shocking discovery what appeared to be prison cells it's unclear why exactly elements were needed prison cells in this isolated area perhaps punishment. to prevent their own fighters fleeing in the middle of the night these are some of the weapons which was captured from japan and we've got these. rockets lots of tactical vests. and there are rocket launches. guns and all sorts of all tillery which were abandoned by now so when they were defeated and they left this cave there's even a room where battle plans are drawn up where fights is received instruction and

they take their seats and listen to the commanders ninety militants were killed in that battle and those who survived many of them fled to infighting continues between different rebel groups but some of them remained just a few kilometers away behind these mountains behind us more ominous lee many more of them decided to defect to the so-called islamic state and some of the hezbollah commanders here tell me that they're only four kilometers away from where we are now a sally r.t. . he said lebanon thanks watching. all the stories to want to social media pages and you cheap i'll be back in half an hour with more news and i want.

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