overriding question sentiment in u.s. congress that's the view of russia's foreign minister who met his american counterpart on the sidelines of a major security forum this weekend also in the week's top stories president trump signs a new russia sanctions bill several of america's. cities it's a declaration of a full scale. pressure is staffed up against north korea to the u.n. security council votes. for tougher sanctions on pyongyang for its missile tests.

to kids dictator the venezuelan president is also targeted by u.s. restrictions over his for a controversial new mages slate of body that will rewrite the constitution. with the review of the past seven days any news on right to moment developments as well this is the weekly here on r t international i mean you know neal hello and welcome our top story moscow's top diplomat say strong russian sentiment in the u.s. congress has led to the latest turn in relations between the two countries. made the comment on a meeting with his american counterpart rex tillerson earlier. picks a closer look at the story it was a very lengthy meeting it seemed like

a very friendly meeting the two gentleman seemed 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 off to new. lows so what did they talk about first well surprise surprise sanctions. lavrov 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 ante 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 recent back to cheat 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 that take a listen to their action by the by the congress to put these structures implosion the way they do now that 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 hostile meeting. earlier journalist martin summers told us that the talks between lover off until recent are a good sign considering the tension between moscow and washington 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 that. there's many things about which obviously there is no agreement and the situation is becoming 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 goal is 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 as we've been hearing relations between russia and the u.s. took another hit on wednesday as donald trump his signature to that new sanctions bill the measures have angered

a number of america's allies in europe too who say their economic interests are being ignored 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 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 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 horribly unexpected but i do believe that the east side shows are out of the thing with the traditions of the united states and how our government functions but what looks like a constitutional crisis brewing in the us that 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 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 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 koch qualified 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 russia and 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 gives congress the power to block the president from easing sanctions on moscow double troll post brundle it just nation constitutional breaking dawn what's happening in washington here's our tease. 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 know. and to make just to keep order as we've been hearing for 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 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 to another big story of the week sweeping new sanctions against north korea said to a u.s. drafted resolution where unanimously agreed on by a u.n. security council late. are the asian nations exports of coal metals on seafood meaning its export revenue will be cut by a run to thirty amounting to roughly a billion dollars per year foreign investment has also been blocked the move comes in response the continued missile tests russia believes sanctions should be the starting point for a future dialogue with north korea other un members agree but there are signs that

washington is still considering a more direct response. every military expert says there is no good military option there all. 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 if thousands die they're going to die over there and they're not going to die here and he's told me that to my face that may be provocative but not really however america's top diplomat rex tillerson sais his country would like dialogue with at some point although one expert told us the chances of toppling are diminishing if you're thinking in terms of dialogue you know if anything. less. than before but if you're being effective for the. collective punishment i'm going to hire north korean population and bring about the

economic collapse of north korea are going to be a factor of force would be if you are thanks to the thought draconian. the only increase the likelihood of a conflict or increase of tensions at the very least. authorities in venice waylay say they have foiled a terror attack on a military base close to the capital it all comes after a group of men in military uniforms released a video of themselves announcing an opera against president do or witnesses reported hearing gunshots jerking the night officials the report the situation is not fully under control and that several people have been arrested the incident follows the an organization of a controversial new legislative body and its formation which critics say will strip the opposition of power has led the u.s. to play sanctions on the president. as a result of today's sanctions all assets of the door subject to u.s.

jurisdiction are frozen and u.s. persons are prohibited from dealing with him the new assembly will be tasked with rewriting the constitution and will have the power to dissolve the current parliament the opposition has to find a ban on public protests then once the election us a power grab by mature road police in the capital deployed tear gas and rubber bullets in clashes with furious opposition activist during the week and people are now gathering to rally against the government side the gates of the compound which was attacked over night. well the u.s. state department branded last weekend's vote illegitimate it also describes

president maduro leadership as a dictatorship however when it comes to the sanctions there does seem to be one spear that's off limits police stations 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 about the only to me that they don't literally destroy don't know how to deal with that lawyer or do they mean. it but i mean cliff probably did 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 seven percent to around six hundred seventy thousand barrels a day when it stopped that absolutely no citgo petroleum corporation based in texas belongs to wait for it and it's wait state owned oil company which means the country has access to these refineries 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 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. or pence it's all the same to one u.s.

congresswoman we explain more later in the program. what politicians to do something to. put themselves on the line to get accepted or rejected. so when you want to be president or injury. or something i want to be honest. with you going to be press this is what will before three in the morning can't be good. i'm interested always in the waters of my. question. in case you're new to the game this is how it works not the economy is built around

corporations corporations from washington washington controls the media the media. the voters elect the businessman to run this country business equals power. must it's not business as usual it's business like it's never been done before. i. you're back with r t international italy's attempts to get a grip on the migrant crisis have hit another setback after aid groups carrying out rescue missions in the mediterranean sea refused to sign a so-called code of conduct the new rules state police must be allowed on board rescue ships boats would be prevented from transferring refugees to other vessels insisting non-governmental organizations take migrants to italian ports themselves phone calls or flares would be banned in case they're used to signal to people

smugglers when the coast is clear well it clearly insists the migrant rescue code is monday tree and anyone refusing to sign it will face consequences however the medical charity doctors without borders believes that could put people in power. goes against our mission which is to save lives and it goes against this really goes against the hearts of what we are as a medical and humanitarian mission and it's not something that. look cold has partially been drawing up after some n.g.o.s who are accused of acting as a taxi service working alongside people traffickers to get migrants into europe it is a concern that's been repeatedly voiced by a group known as defend europe the anti migrant movement even tried funded the mediterranean mission to monitor the work of the ngos. because we are against mess immigration to europe wants to stop this madness this n.g.

all madness. and 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 recent people drowning and the are making a fortune for this human trafficking rings in libya destabilizing the country i think the future for actually good can't lie and europe the future of europe cannot be become second africa. or us democratic congresswoman has gone on t.v. calling on her party to pursue the impeachment of russia's president also not what it seems though she actually got to love him or putin confused with her own country's number two they canceled the better than trump if he were all as one with finished with trump we have to go and get that he's next putting up heads ten.

california representative maxine waters who is known for her strict until you russia's stance you may also remember that she made a similar blunder involving president putin back in february. putin is continuing to advance and to korea korea. well despite maxine waters words russia is not advancing in either north or south korea . the syrian government 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 as strikes 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 and iraq over the past three years although four hundred reports of possible civilian casualties are yet to be examined but that is

according to operation in her and resolves own data the u.k. based transparency group early wars estimates instead 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 plus a neighboring iraq one british aid worker describes scenes of armageddon when she visited the liberated city of mosul geo political analyst patrick henningsen says' americans only see military successes on their t.v.'s not their reality. no surprise the coalition's going to want to under play any of those sort of casualty 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 kaleidoscopes in the in the united states and it has nothing to do with what's going on the ground. among human commemorating a russian army servicemen who sacrificed themself in a battle against islamic state in syria last year has been unveiled in the tuscany region of italy alexander died while coordinating our strikes on i saw militants near the city of palmira the statue was put up at the initiative of the italian talons in a park of heroes this is what they had to say. we decided to pay tribute to the hero who sacrificed his life in the fight against the evil which is islamic states and so you moods the lies he's memory while helping the russian

earth force hit extremist targets the twenty five year old soldier found himself surrounded by ice the fighters realizing escape was impossible he ordered under a strike on his own position alexander died along with the islamist militants as a result he was posthumously awarded the title of hero of the russian federation the trump administration announced a crackdown on friday on federal government leaks which have left the white house in turmoil the culprits are being warned to stop now or face legal consequences. leaks are incredibly 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 and you will not be happy with the result and the move followed yet another scandal over our north arise disclosure after transcripts of donald trump's phone calls with foreign leaders were leaked to the media and they show that he asked his mexican counterpart to stop publicly saying his country won't pay for the proposed wall on their shared border and reveal trump's reluctance to accept a refugee resettlement deal with a stray which he said quote would make him look terrible the leaks even provoked outrage among the president's critics who say a line has been crossed is not fair this president. in terms of the leaks with the light present trump or not no president can do business with their phone calls from the lead of the washington post terribly damaging to our country not just a dollar from politically who i don't support but to our country does it crimps conversations with foreign leaders all the way down the chain a list of your trust issues in the white house come amid major shake ups and top

team with the president increasingly turning to family members for support and bringing in military style management. we could use some more loyalty i will. cool is that they tells him the hard truth almost everyone has around someone. serving the president has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime. he will do a spectacular job i have no doubt i think we are in pretty good shape the. president has got to select the right people that he has crushed him to carry out his vision

of a strategy. well all those stories on indeed too many others to mention can be checked out on our website i'll be here in around thirty minutes time with more news and views from the week that was. to begin. in the fall. because we. were talking to. you. but not

a lot of anything about tom and i scared but i'm about the same as art when i was up the money into. making money. my money. just saved so you'll feel that there will be. no. longer much of you meet. other people that was on the. look out.

bluebell controls a part as russian the united states a trading increasingly confrontational in syria another war torn country may become a ring a theater for the old rivalry afghanistan has been the geopolitical chess board for so long is there even a chance for a peaceful resolution to discuss that and now i'm joined by the country's former president hamid karzai mr president it's great to see you in moscow well. now

you've long been arguing that the current american approach to afghanistan is not working that it's time for the americans to assess the strategy and perhaps adjust the course and it strikes me as a little bit too naive it's almost like asking the taliban or ourselves for that matter to lay down arms don't you think that you are perhaps engaging in a wishful thinking i mean what we need to afghanistan we need peace of god. and do we need success against terrorism in afghanistan the u.s. goes on in the name of fighting extremism and terrorism fifteen years on do we have also told more of we have a lot more of so obviously we have failed and the casualty is the victim is afghan people and our peace but the mr president you know better than i did you know what you essentially won the americans and not just american platoon.