ah. there's an overriding anti russian sentiment in u.s. congress that's the view of russia's foreign minister who met his remark and counterparts on the sidelines of a 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 says it's a declaration of a full scale trade war and the pressure stepped up against north korea too is the u.n. security council vote she nanna miss lee for tough new sanctions on pyongyang over its missile tests and. a dictator dictator the

venezuelan president store so targeted by u.s. restrictions over his from a chain of a controversial new legislative body it will rewrite the constitution. a welcome the latest developments in a look back at what's been happening over the last seven days to you watching the weekend here on r.t. international now moscow's top diplomat says it is strong anti russian sentiment in the u.s. congress that has led to the latest downturn in relations between the two countries so he made the comment at a meeting with his american counterpart rex tillerson earlier it era chewed it takes a closer look at what was said. 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 of laughing and joking and i also need to point out it was the first face to

face meeting after a new russia sanctions plane and pows 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 n.t. russia's sanctions bill that was passed in the u.s. congress we explained to him what was behind the actions that we took after 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 their action by the by the congress to put these charges implosion the way they do i know the president nor i 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 a very overwhelming good. 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. well earlier we did discuss the outcome of that meeting with journalist martin. the fact that meetings taking place at all given the rhetoric that's been coming. of the united states over the past week or so is a positive development that. has many things about which obviously there is no

agreement and your 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 un security council there was a unanimous position on north korea. which the american side wants that sort of cooperation to continue it's very disappointing that the political class in the us seems have collectively lost its marbles in this way i mean they've tied the hands of their only goshi eight years which you know you don't usually do that if you've got any common sense so we're now stuck in a bit of a bit of a norm pass. so then as we've 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 that 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. well 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 that this bill of course is it is a terrible bill. it benefits the people of no contrary not the united states not germany not all three or in a way not russia not 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 east side shows are out of he playing 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 us president mean that we have abandoned the concept of units foreign policy issues are evidently 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 of potentially in violation of international law and u.s. worship elations taken for their 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 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 he may be prevented from doing just that the deep state the need. 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 coca-cola fire to be 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 trump 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 rule kids congress the powers to block the president from easing sanctions almost sco and donald trump has branded the legislation unconstitutional and i breaks down what's happening in washington. i guess no president would like to be. shoes right now times really are getting 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 want to make just to keep order and as we've been hearing from the white house spokesperson who's been explaining that very signature under that sanctions bill the 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 for his 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 a sweeping new sanctions against north korea to new u.s. drafted resolution unanimously agreed on by the u.n. security council late on saturday they ban north korean exports of coal metals and seafood and should reduce its export revenue by about a third which will amount to roughly a billion dollars a year from an investment is also being blocked the move comes in response to north korea's continued missile tests over russia police and. should be the starting point for future dialogue with north korea the un members agree but there are signs too that washington is still considering a military option every military expert says there is no good military option

they're wrong there is an option to destroy north korea's program and north korea itself he's not the 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 to my face that may be provocative but not really however america's top diplomat rex tillerson says his country would like dialogue with pyongyang at some point although one expert did tell us the chances of that happening are. you're thinking in terms of dialogue no if anything. less. than before but if you're being a factor of authority to impose their collective a part of them are not going to tire a north korean population and bring your boat the economic collapse of north korea . unfortunately you are thanks to the thought recalling your mates are the.

only increase you'd like record. or increase the tensions that the very. forces in venezuela say they have thwarted a terror attack on a military base close to the capital that comes after a group of many military uniforms released a video of themselves announcing an uprising against president witnesses reported hearing gunshots cheering the night an official say the situation is not fully under control several people have been arrested the rebellion comes forward and you know gratian of a controversial new legislative body on friday its formation which critics say will strip the opposition of power has led the u.s. to place sanctions on the. as a result of today's sanctions all assets from a doro subject to u.s. jurisdiction are frozen and u.s. persons are prohibited from dealing with him and you assembly will be tasked with rewriting the constitution and will have the power to dissolve the current

parliament the opposition has defied a ban on public protests and then as the election as a power grab by president the police in the capital deployed to gas and rubber bullets and clashes with furious opposition activists on friday. well the u.s. state department branded sunday's vote is illegitimate and it also describes president jewelries leadership as a dictatorship however when it does come to the sanctions that does seem to be one sphere that's off limits but sanctions against oil are i'm not going to comment on that what i will say is we will monitor all of our options it seems we all knew about this relationship. is a dictator who disregards the will of the venezuelan people not i think at least

a few only to me that they don't they determine a sort on a part of the of the not loyal to their name but. if to put them into it probably did the government. is violating its own constitution. to live in a. pump oil into the equation and politics is brushed straight under the carpet his facts of how black gold unites them. to take a discount american states being the third largest exporter of crude to the u.s. a numbers of growing up seven percent to around six hundred seventy thousand barrels a day but will it stop that absolutely not the citgo petroleum corporation based in texas belongs to wait for its venezuela's 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 venice on oil could spike us gasoline prices as well so i think that that is the concern. you're watching the weekly still to come trying to stop people traffickers in the mediterranean seem to get charities on board to help and we'll tell you why after the break. what politicians do something to. put themselves on the line to get accepted or

rejected. so when you want to be president and you. want. to go on the beach for us this is what before three in the morning can't be good. i'm interested always in the waters of our. first city. dropping bombs brings peace to the chicken hawks forcing you to fight the battles but don't. produce offspring to tell you that celebrity gossip and tabloid but files of most reporters. often tell you on the cool enough to buy their products. we.

will watch. welcome back now we sleep attempts to get a grip on the migrant crisis have 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 that n.g.o.s take migrants to italian ports themselves it will also ban phone calls or flares in case they are being used to signal to people smugglers when the coast is clear italy insists the migrant rescue code is mandatory and anyone refusing to sign it will face consequences medical charity doctors without borders though believes it could 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. well the code has been partially 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 that's been repeatedly voiced by a group known as defend europe the anti migrant movement even crowd funded a mediterranean mission to monitor the work of the ngos. because we are going to mass immigration to europe wants to stop this madness this n.g. all madness in the military and you know because everybody's just walking in the what is acting feeling you're stepping in what you're doing going to do is you're going to all watch the and you also and i think what they're doing there is nothing good because they're actually a support factor and basically they are the reason for this mess migration the other reason 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. europe cannot be become second africa. now a u.s. democratic congresswoman has gone on t.v. calling on her party to pursue the impeachment of russia's president although it isn't quite as it seems as she actually got putin confused with her own country's number two. they had somebody better than trump if he were oh and when we're finished with trump we have to go and get booked and that he's next putting up heads up it has california representative maxine waters there who is known for her strict anti russia's stance you might also remember she made a similar blunder involving president putin back in february. putin is continue went to advance and to korea korea. and spy what maxine waters said of course russia is not advancing in either north

or south korea. now the taliban has been stepping up its attacks in afghanistan this week as things stand sways of the country currently under his control. i. the united states special inspector general for afghanistan admitted on monday that a defense department program costing taxpayers almost half a billion dollars has failed to achieve its goals u.s. officials say they are not winning and describe the situation as a stalemate we are not winning in afghanistan right now we want an illusion. mr chairman i believe we're in a stalemate person trump is now again to get to the bottom of what the u.s.

has been doing in afghanistan for the past seventeen years threatening this wait to sack is top command in afghanistan over the young going law says former pentagon official michael maloof says the u.s. has no strategy i'm going to have one if he continues only to use military force president trump is voicing that their frustration in trying to come to some kind of resolution on this now i know the russians have an afghan working group i was told by some officials recently that they had actually invited the united states to participate in discussions to discuss a resolution for afghanistan but the united states refused. unbelievable the u.s. needs a strategy it doesn't have one and the it's not going to have one if they're going to rely solely on a military solution. meanwhile the u.s. government is allegedly prioritizing diplomacy with afghanistan's leadership by

apparently turning a blind eye to a now illegal afghan custom in which boys are abuse. it is see. very. little focus is senseless nature it's mostly. us showing. something of us that. were former cia officer jack rice says knowledge of abuses of being kept from the american public. at a certain point i think the american people just turned away and as they have turned away what we're saying is various abuses various things sometimes just even

the lack of success the united states has inside of afghanistan is something they did american people don't see don't watch and don't even understand so the idea that sexual abuse may be going on it doesn't surprise me that the american people are just missing it and they are you don't uncover it if you don't address those issues it's simply expands the potential for more crimes to be conducted against people. in other news this week the trumpet ministration announced a crackdown on friday on federal government leaks which have left the white house in turmoil the culprits culprits of being warned to stop or face legal consequences leaks are and tragically damaging to our intelligence mission and capabilities simply put these leaks hurt our country if you improperly disclose classified information we will find you we will investigate you we will prosecute you

to the fullest extent of the law you will not be happy with the result. but the move followed yet another scandal over an unauthorized disclosure after transcripts of donald trump's phone calls with foreign leaders leaked to the media they show that he asked his mexican counterpart to stop publicly saying his country won't pay for the proposed war on the border and revealed trump's reluctance to accept a refugee resettlement deal with a stray here which he said would make him look terrible but the league see even provoked outrage among the president's critics who say a line has been crossed. it is not feared it is frozen. in terms of the leaks or the like prison transfer not no prison you can do business with your phone calls from legally for the washington post terribly damaging to our country not just a dollar a political leader i don't support but to our country that does is it crimps conversations with foreign leaders all the way down the chain the severe trust

issues in the white house do come amid major shake ups in trump's top with the president increasingly turning to family members for support and bringing in military style management. more loyal to. the hard truth almost everyone. serving the president has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime. doing a spectacular job i have no doubt predicted showed.

the right. strategy. monuments commemorating the russian army servicemen who died in syria last year has been unveiled in an italian. involved in coordinating russia near the syrian city of power mira during the operation in march of last year he found himself surrounded by islamic state. realizing he could not escape he would end their strike on the same location that died along with the isis militants as a result he was posthumously awarded the hero of the russian federation his monument is located in

a park. he wants in the weekly here and. have a look at all the stories on our social media pages and also argue cheap chat on back with more. when the make this manufacture consent to public wells. when the ruling class is protect themselves. the famous merry go round certainly the one percent. we can all middle of the room sit.

the boy . yes it's worth combination inspection.

form an exit it's out of the reservation to the south of this arizona sonora does sonora there's a checkpoint leading to the north to hillah been there so you know the checkpoint leaving to go to class a grandee there's another checkpoint and then that's north and east to to saw there's another checkpoint. so. within that small space we have we're completely surrounded.