well. president putin alters the withdrawal of russia's forces from syria during a surprise visit to the from a min military base five days after the last go declared the country's liberation from islamic states. the backlash continues to escalate against president trumps the recognition of jerusalem as israel's capital protests around the world include attempts to storm the us embassy and demands for the american ambassadors resignation. graphic bodycount video is released in the us showing a police officer shooting dead an unarmed man he was later cleared of murder and

manslaughter. this is r.t. international coming to you live from moscow i'm kate thank you for joining us. but we start with some breaking news president putin has ordered the start of the withdrawal of russian forces from syria dottie's daniel hawkins joins me with a studio in their car to get my teeth when they're down in the studio with the details why they're down so does that mean that russia's mission in syria is over or according to some will be the case in terms of the military phase this was announced by president putin as you mentioned of a surprise visit to. it's part of his middle east visit where he will president also you see leaving syria as well as you mentioned he's officially to withdraw from latakia as well as

a naval base of course will remain he has made it clear though that if terrorists according to his words really are there. ads again russia work as a date to strike them down once again now since twenty fifteen of course the loss of russia's campaign the syrian army's regained vast amounts of poetry as much as ninety percent of the country the russian warplanes who were involved in the operation the russian troops have destroyed thousands of targets command posts all infrastructure training camps etc military operations of the war the liberation of aleppo of palmira twice. as well in addition of course to helping fight your hardest russian troops on the ground have been actively engaged in demining those areas most affected by the conflict as well the active phase of fighting the most battle hardened jarvis according to the russian government is over and now the switch goes over to the political process as well we can have a look now at some of the key moments that the russian troops have been involved in since twenty fifteen. the so-called islamic state of syria and

iraq is a state no more for all intents and purposes says the russian defense ministry it has been destroyed as a faction there are still hot spots and isolated pockets vladimir putin added but with the liberation of the west bank of the euphrates river isis has done seven hundred ninety nine days after russia got involved in september two thousand and fifteen when isis was arguably at its peak when the russian operation began isis held more territory in syria than any other faction two years in a few months on the caliph it has been reduced to clubs to villages and i don't have that to desert wasn't the russian air force alone that did this the u.s. led coalition also played a huge part we've been covering the syrian civil war in depth before isis even had

its name before jihad hijacked the rebels cause here are some of the more now. admirable moments filmed by my colleagues and i. this is the ad based in the talkie oh from which russian jets are launching the sorties against islam ix they tug it's here in syria. whether it's. in a time the pilots are ready to go it's a moment's notice. in this amphitheater laid down by the romans or most two thousand years ago that isis staged one of its sickest massacres the russian military considers that the

crowding jewel of the operation here in syria. you can see had just some of the impressive military hardware that isis have in that possession that has made the battle for palmira so tough way extremely close to isis positions less than two kilometers away and. we're as a syrian artillery position who overlooking the industrial corridor of that has ordered the battle is said to be theists isis fired back as we filmed shells began falling well around. we ran but the syrian batteries

kept firing life indeed as order is still far from normal but at least they will be starving to death and the more. ultimately it wasn't russian or american jets that played the decisive role in this this victory belongs to the syrians the thousands and thousands who fought and died to defeat isis those who stood up to jihad ists even when it seemed nothing could stop them unfortunately it's unlikely that this will end here any isis fighters have escaped or god on the ground the sleeper cells will terrorize the world for years to come but now they'll no longer have the caliphate to fight for. or to discuss all these issues in more depth we're now joined by our cafeteria rect

of gnosis and british think tank that focuses on crisis in syria and the middle east thank you very much indeed i'm often joining us i mean what do you make of this unexpected trip to syria. it was quite it was question uprising we knew all along that the prison putin would be visiting to a key and and later on but then you know would he stop it happening i mean i don't think anybody thought about this. especially there is nothing new but this is very highly significant because it gives you the impression that there is a you know a large feel or a growing confidence in syria in the stability of syria and so on but this is definitely a surprising visit and it tells you again and you know that things are going forward measure combating operations regarding the analysis with itself of course a withdrawal of of measure combat units that you know the major operations are now coming to an end and things are heading in the right direction and i'm odd john

you're walking here in the studio alongside kate here this is been labeled the end of this sort of active military phase here the beginning of what's going to be a long and probably quite complex political process for the country how significant exactly is that transition into that political negotiation face now. well it's going to take it's going to take a long time it will be very hard to convince all stakeholders especially who are those who are influenced heavily by states who do not really wants to belittle and syria to take part or actually take active part or proactive part constructive far so to speak in in building a new serious of the. i think the contrast itself or the stark contrast between the russian russian announcement of withdrawing major combat units or russian forces main combat units and the american. decoration after declaration of increasing

the their forces in syria putting them indefinitely and vital uninvited by the way tells you that russia has invested heavily predominantly to secure a legitimacy in syria to support the state. and stability basically was the americans have always and will always continue sort of to undermine this the and on the minds to be pretty in syria so make no mistake this is not going to happen very soon and there will be parties who will be swayed by america's brand name you know if we stick with the americans and and don't join with the central government then probably would be better but you know at the end of the day it's very unstable and hopefully you know we will get this nightmare behind our backs very soon and on that basis that i mean there is looking at the consensus agreement that i still is

defeated all there are any pockets of resistance remaining do you think that other foreign countries involved in the syria conflict will follow the russian example and announce their withdrawals as well. well as i said the americans are not going to do so they have in fact and i was there they are beefing up their forces they apparently would want to keep certain i wouldn't say include because this is actually a large. segment of syria that is now controlled by syrian democratic forces as independent as possible so that they think they could influence. it is what they think they could influence the political process in a sense as a pressure card but that would only lead to instability there is always there is also the in cleaving italy where the syrian army has just started major operations in north western any pull and it leave itself were tied or two but most are basically still there and it will take also time to clear them and re instate that piece of land into into syria so we're not you know it's it will take time but

certain players have different agendas and different objectives and the americans they feel that if they hold enough pressure cards like in northeastern syria and in southern syria they could probably influence the political process and have their voices heard and you know we're going to suffer a little bit due to that but hopefully things will come right at the end just looking back at the last two years twenty fifteen more russians obviously faced some negative reaction a lot of criticism as well for its operations in syria that's not something we can get away from the main achievement without a doubt has been by the syrian army of course the liberating the country but just from a tactical point of view how significant was russia's involvement militarily in backing up the syrian army on the ground. well first of all everybody needs to know that the russian involvement has been highly appreciated by

a lot of people who did not really want neither this revolution or you know that they. had huge support that it got from regional powers you know hundred twenty hundred thirty countries they wanted to maintain their government they didn't want syria to go to shreds just like what happened in iraq or libya or now as we can see yemen and i think russia helped a lot with that and it really deserves a lot of credit and a lot of people are really need you know full of gratitude towards that. in a sense from a tactical point of view it was at the time when russia came it was it was a bleak moment that's for sure nothing in a sense said that syria's government was going to collapse at all and we could also sense a lot of russia's support before that and i think the main proof of that russian support was that no need to operate in whatsoever started in syria between the two

thousand and eleven and the year two thousand and fifteen in a sense so russia was was always behind the scenes you know the security council and that all all helped keep the state on its feet. now militarily the surge of air power especially did help. turn the tide and also most importantly the psychological factor you know the old you know what the rebels the militants the they suddenly failed the russians are coming here and now we're not only fighting a government that is or a regime so to speak that is whose fault it is imminent now there is a superpower so that you know affected very morale that affected their performance in a sense and that helped sway other countries in the region like turkey for example who was on and still is unhappy. with what the united states is doing northeastern syria to come to their senses and try to have agreed allies with the fall

of the government in damascus if they were going to be imminent come to their senses and start you know some sort of a constructive role i think all in all both politically militarily and even took enormously if you want to put it that way it helped a lot and a lot of syrians i can assure you. appreciate that and it will leave it there if you can just hold on just a few minutes we'll come back here to talk about other issues in the meantime and. well as we've been hearing it's a busy day for a lot to me appears in his plane has just touched down in cairo where the russian president was met by his egyptian counterpart. explains the importance of his visit . president c.c. who is welcoming mr putin at the airport and also here at the presidential palace has many issues to sort out with the russian leader including joint nuclear power plant project and reopening direct flights but bear in mind jerusalem the

arab league met here and the capital of egypt to and donald trump's decision infuriated the arab world they cannot oppose people's feelings and beliefs this is a new type of adventurism and global arrogance of the us. the kingdom of jordan refuses the recognition by the united states so jerusalem is the capital of israel out of the decision by the united states in its context gives legitimacy and recognition for occupation and the allowance of the de facto status using force and now it is fair to say that not only the arab world but a broader community says they're ready to stand up for the palestinians the turkish president tibe aired on so far has proved to be the most outspoken one and here's what that led to believe. is row is a terrorist state. i'm not used to receiving. lectures.

about morality from a leader who bombs kurdish villages in his native to kill. who dreams dreams. hopes you're on the wrong international sanctions and who those jurors but back to president putin's trip he's got a scheduled meeting was very broad so we'll definitely be watching out for the joint statements first a lot of our program plus abdel fattah el-sisi and then type are drawn and vladimir putin and turkey. over the past twenty four hours have seen a fresh wave of violent protests against donald trump's decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital and move the u.s. embassy there.

and she knew zia protesters demanding the resignation of the american ambassador on in sudan on crowds rallied against truong outside a united nations office while the most violent demonstrations were singing beirut where protesters attempted to storm the u.s. embassy. work. like i. was oh oh. oh. but. i was cut police fired tear gas and charged at the same time in a an attempt to actually capture a few palestinian use which they did and we filmed them dragging them away into place vehicles that was in

a violent saying that that was the day that i was not the outflow going out oh i was so all of this because of donald trump's announcement to recognize jerusalem as israel's capital in what has been considered right across the arab world as a dangerous reckless and completely ill conceived move. well a pro palestinian rally also took place in paris just before the israeli prime minister arrived in france binyamin netanyahu is on his first trip to europe after america's recognition of curiosity as israel's capital was so far top european politicians have been making it clear they don't well from the decision. expressed to prime minister netanyahu my disappointment of the u.s. president's declaration and explain that front sees it is contrary to international law and is dangerous to peace so i think the sooner the problem students come to grips with this reality the sooner we will move towards peace the only realistic

solution to the conflicts between israel and palestine is based on two states which are those eleven as the capital of both the state of israel and the state of palestine along the sixty seven line i believe that all or most of the european countries will move their embassies to jerusalem recognize crucial images rose work up little britain's prime minister condemn trump's decision as i'm helpful adding she disagrees with the move while germany's foreign minister expressed fears the move could worsen the israeli palestinian conflict when we put the divisive issue up for debate. people can open the bible and to count how many times jerusalem is invention there they will find out also that jerusalem is not mentioned even one time in the koran not even one time people will find out that jerusalem is the capital of israel since nine hundred forty eight the whole world is condemning this

action because simply it's against the international law it's and against the framework for the peace process is has forfeited the united states who fitted its position as a broker to the peace process and i tell you something the israelis have girls who are palestinians in the past two days in peaceful protests while no israeli was killed there was an injury in an attack and was jerusalem everything is a lie first everything my appalling says is a lie there were three terrorists killed in gaza strip which has nothing to do with the protests here because gaza strip they fired rockets and they forget about it they just forget that they fire rockets at israeli kindergarten when people who fought off followers of hijab in that whole say name hitler skull operator of the ring cycle cold war those who create that fatah before nine hundred sixty seven to

destroy israel when this resists the said personalities common to teach us morality listen it cannot be defended themselves why they are illegally on somebody else's land that is unacceptable what they done what they do and what i have been doing since one thousand nine hundred seven is an aggression and with your other guests this radical has never been to your land never been the old land in the history of those land they were born in russia donald trump. kept his promises and his trying to doing his best we are grateful but the issue is not donald trump the issue is these people go around in europe here the russians americans and we are here in the middle east the only democracy of the only all new really alive in this very dark environment.

let's return to our breaking news story president putin as ordered the start of the withdrawal of russia's forces from syria but valid to come back if terrorists reappear artie's daniel hoare kins joins me with the details. hi there again dan so what are the details well this is part of his visit to the middle east he's visiting egypt soon after leaving syria to meet the president there but this as you said has been a surprise visit to the russian air base in crimea and the official announcement is that russian troops will begin to leave syria looking confer early as monday that's when the first pilots the first planes will return from syria to russia and did make clear though that if the terrorists as you said rear their heads again they will face strikes that they have never seen before now since twenty fifteen of course the syrian army with the help of russian troops have regained vast swathes of territory throughout syria as much as ninety percent of the country russian troops have been involved in some of the very key battles of the syrian war

liberating aleppo liberating palmira twice in fact babies or on the euphrates as well now they've targeted thousands of units of terrorist infrastructure training camps all infrastructure command posts etc and of course russian sappers are going to volved actively in demining many areas most worst affected by the syrian civil war the active phase mr putin has said previously or military conflict in syria is over now the switch is through the political process. russia's of course announcement of effectively mission accomplished there hasn't been so well received amongst some quarters correspondent nic reports. everyone was gearing up to celebrate isos grip on syria was loosening and the u.s. coalition forces had the champagne on ice we are defeating isis we're really winning we know how to win races in terms of

a physical caliphate will be gone by the end of the year but when the black flag was finally lowered some felt the limelight was stolen and used it on the locals to russia's defense minister reported that the military operation on the east and west banks of the euphrates river is now completed with the full defeat of the terrorists of course there could still be some pockets of resistance but in general combat actions at this stage and on this territory are over. how dare russia claim the moment of glory i want to thank general managers for doing such a great job with respect i was this is not the hell out of. my survey that passenger with what i'd let you do i think. so instead of celebrating some chose perhaps predictably to squabble over the far north i find it surprising that russia takes all the credit for defeating eisel in reality i saw occupied

a large part of syria and iraq and it was the coalition that shrank the territory occupied by the jihadists let's step back and look at how i still lost ground in the south the syrian army backed by russian airpower repainted the map from black to damascus red while coalition forces with the help of the kurds did much of the heavy lifting by liberating swathes of northern syria but heaven forbid we should even consider this a team effort. with the support of the russian. the syrian army liberated hundreds of cities from territories and returned almost all the country's territory to the government controlled. the u.s. led coalition the russian federation of the syrian regime is the only field that has made meaningful progress against isis three years the various sides have shared a common goal driving i still out of syria but now that's been achieved for some the main thing now is taking all the credit it is still absolutely critical to the

us role in the world to maintain this this narrative that it is a response only responsible for. you know the good things that happen in the world while its enemy is responsible for all the bad things and unfortunately it sees russia as not just a competitor really as an enemy spawn. well that and i mean so what we we're hearing here is effectively that the that i saw has been defeated or the majority of ice has been defeated but essentially the political situation well that's now to be sort of just what exactly correspondent more road so to spend a lot of time in syria there are still isolated pockets in some areas of southern syria want to believe in your homes as well all the areas are controlled by rebel forces the more so-called moderate rebels some of the hardest forces won and of course all the areas are controlled by the codes who held the rome referendum is

who affected to conduct their own local policy now there's several political factions obviously here at play. who are backed up by washington who still haven't really decided where exactly is life fully with who's very unhappy about the whole situation of kurds being backed up by the syrian government has now said they're willing to return to the table of talks in geneva they asked for more formal negotiations as well and of course the rebels themselves have also indicated. willingness now to negotiate this will be a very long drawn out political process in many ways as as you mentioned the military battle may be over the political battle though is very much just beginning or very interesting to see what other an outside mr putin may have what we're going to see from the americans as well their position regarding anchor of the isn't so clear yet what mr trump will have to say over the next coming weeks and months certainly we will be very busy covering those events i'm sure and it sort of phase

one is over now it's on to phase two isn't it thank you very much i'll be talking to you later dan hawkins thank you well the former dutch special envoy to syria nikolaus bandung told safer should have no answer that attempts to take all the credit for defeating myself are only made for political gain and. i think it's not and the country has really can claim. victory because there are so many countries involved in the fight against against the islamic state it is the western alliance arab countries the syrian regime dear amy and the hezbollah so to claim i think it's a political statement but it isn't wants to claim that he or she is the main responsible for winning from did so has been a process of various years. when

islamic states defeats has also been declared in neighboring iraq with a military parade held in celebration in the capital baghdad. i would like to announce the to our armed forces to finally you know why and now we're going to see who controls the work you see. when in this case the pentagon welcomes the announcement saying it will continue to support iraqi forces to ensure my son's defeat and the state department spokesperson made it clear the u.s. has no plans to leave the country claiming the fight against terror there isn't yet finished the united states joins the government of iraq in stressing that iraq's liberation does not mean the fight against terrorism and even against isis in iraq is over the united states along with a global coalition to defeat isis will continue to partner with iraqi security

forces advising training and equipping them. journalist nicholas davis told us washington will try to find other ways to justify its presence in the country now that the terrorists to be defeated if the iraqi government believes that it has. essentially got the resistance to its control of the country in hand then it will probably once again be wanting the americans to leave so then it becomes a matter of whether the americans can actually find justification is to maintain some kind of presence they always have maintained some presence special operations forces working with the kurdish post.