thousands demand justice for the victims of a huge shopping center fire in the russian city of camera for which left sixty four people dead on sunday you. heard. president putin visits the city to pay his respects to the victims promising that those responsible will face justice. as those russian authorities declare wednesday a day of national mourning these are live pictures we're bringing you now of people coming together in mourning. and in other news moskos says it won't tolerate borish missed and will respond to

a dozen countries worldwide expelled russian diplomats in a show of solidarity with britain which blames moscow for the poisoning of a former double agent. a warm welcome you're watching r.t. international with me nicky aaron good to have you with us this hour well before we update you on the aftermath of the commemorate tragedy we want to bring you more reaction to the news that two dozen countries are sending home more than one hundred russian diplomats between them is in support of britain which accuses moscow of orchestrating the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter earlier this month we can now talk live to russia's permanent representative to the european union of logic mr. bassett a change of welcome to the program it's very good to have you with us why do you think such far reaching punitive decisions are being second long before the

investigation into this krypton case is over what's the rush here do you think. well started with the british government. blaming russia for this tragic incident. not the only before the investigation was completed but before it even started. you know of scotland yard itself said it would take weeks and the o.p.c. w. in the hague said it might take months to reach a conclusion but i have the impression that the british government never wanted the conclusion that it had the own. decisions ready well in advance and the swiftness with which. a number of countries followed the u.k.

and the united states should read their lead in this is deeply disappointing of course why was the quality of our why would they have their minds already made up before the investigation is over. well that is a good question to ask the british government. the claim that they've managed to convince their allies. in europe and elsewhere that. they are finger pointing in russia had this some more substantiated by something i don't know whether they showed any evidence because if they had david dense of the should of according to the their obligations under the. convention on prohibited of chemical weapons the first show we to the russian federation which they didn't so this is very strange

and very suspicious was what's very peculiar as well is that donald trump says that america is open to cooperation with russia while the or pin commission president as uncle john guy says europe needs to have an open channel of communication with moscow but if they're expelling dozens of diplomats here are they going to talk to you. and well that's another good good question well as far as the united states is concerned. i'm afraid we are in the situation where washington does not speak with one voice. as far as the european commission president is concerned i fully support his view that channels of communication need to me to be maintained and there is what my permanent mission in brussels and myself have been doing all these years. the level of course of the decision that was

taken was cellists a symbolic by. temporary recall of my counterpart ambassador and the editor from moscow for consultations. the expulsions that you mentioned they were all taken national level by individual member states of the european union and some other countries and there will be here that i don't think the british government. is. should be satisfied with this because they are now saying that. of the fake that so many countries have shown solidarity of with britain by through the expulsion of russian diplomats. if you look at the picture actually they have been.

they have managed to split the european union. in a way that russia never could oh never intended to because half of member states did not support that view of the u.k. and did not follow with similar measures i suppose another good question is they you know donald trump and jump on young talking about wanting cooperation with russia but what kind of cooperation do you think they're talking about in based climate after the actions that they taking at russia. well. i am dealing with the european union so let me concentrate on there that the european union is russia's in spite of all of all that has transpired in the last few years so-called sanctions same dissensions. and. other things which of course produced

a negative impact on our cooperation in various fields but still nevertheless the european union remains russia's number one trading partner and a major source of direct foreign to foreign investment and of course we have a wide range of my letter releases that we have to deal with to say nothing of our cooperation in the international arena take the fate of the famous deal on the iranian nuclear program. or take the middle east the middle east quartet where russia and the e.u. are both represented and a number of other issues even syria in spite of certain differences. white house spokesperson said it was donald trump who effectively spurred countries into action against russia now this was supposed to be about countries standing in

solidarity with britain on the issue so why do they washington wants to maneuver itself into the driving seat now deciding how europe should react to such events. well all of the driving seat is i believe the most comfortable seat the seat for the u.s. . diplomacy to be in it doesn't always managed to be there. and in a diplomatic way and fortunately one place interesting that washing thing i'd like you said washington is used to being a non driving seat belts where usually sits but it was that britain where the instant took place i guess you could say why what business is this of washington anyway. well i would say that of course this whole thing was started in london and i think the if you look at the

course of events objective lame. even in the lake of any evidence. supporting the. russian involvement theory i think it came at a very appropriate very opportune time for the british government which was feeling quite uncomfortable in the situation with the break that negotiations. in spite of certain progress achieved lately but still major issues remain open and i would say the most. severe problem is the one concerning the. border. also. the british public opinion actually is certainly still split over the bridge editions. of many. media reports have been suggesting that there are

splits even within the british cabinet. and of course the position of the current cabinet including the prime minister is rather weaker after the. elections last september and of course even the transatlantic relationship things are not that easy not that it's. not devoid of problems look at. the primary sure that was discussed at the last session of the european council that trade measures against the background of. the us president's decision that if on certain imports like steel and aluminum so. the situation is quite complicated and one could say that what was laking. on the shores of l.b.o.

on was a good old fashioned spy scandal. you know there's there's always that theory that some people would jump to that russia or is there a convenient scapegoat for any situation and certainly a big scandal like the script powell case would jure attention away from other issues going on elsewhere but it does seem that some european countries seem to have lost their own enthusiasm when it comes to this whole anti russia vibe and in fact calling for the anti russia sanctions to be lifted do you think washington at this point is trying to counter that so that it can keep the anti russian mood alive that vibe that we've been reporting on for the past year or more. yes i would say that this latest aid to russian hysteria over the the souls brain student. is certainly serves as a tool to prop up. the position of individual e.u.

member states in favor of continuing this iran years sanctions policy towards russia. definitely. what do you think are the longer term repercussions of this while unprecedented level of diplomatic explosions we're seeing do you think we are heading to new depths of a cold war like some people fear. well that depends on your definition of cold war i think cold war in its original classical sense was a conflict of two ideologies we don't have a conflict like that anymore. it's a different reincarnation of of the cold war you could say but i believe it's just . enter russian prejudice and you

know. any action certain foreign policy successes that russia has achieved in the last. months and years so. it's partly jealousy it's partly some i would say of a long standing. animosity on the part of some but i am an optimist i believe this will not prevail because i. believe in common sense of the majority of europeans and actually even today is as we note half of the member states have chosen not to participate in this and the russian hysteria i will lead to this one additional element the context that i have here in brussels with representatives of the business community of the european

union its member states indicate that this hysteria doesn't of grip the business community which in many cases. is eager to continue investing in russia to continue cooperating and russia and to pursue and mutually. mutually beneficial policy. ambassador vladimir shares of russia's permanent representative to the european union thank you for your time sir thank you. eleven years now anger has been mounting in the central russian city of camera where thousands of protesters have been calling for the resignation of the regional government sixty four people including many children were killed in an inferno in a shopping center there on sunday demonstrators say the local authorities response

to the fire was not good enough they're demanding answers and justice for the victims of the tragedy people have been rallying right throughout the day repeatedly chanting the word truth some claim the number of deaths is being downplayed and that eighty five people are still missing thirty eight of the officially acknowledged victims have not yet been identified president putin flew out to siberia earlier he laid flowers at a makeshift memorial outside the shopping complex he also met survivors in hospital and gave his personal thoughts on the disaster. when you hear for the first time how many people died the children died we don't just want to cry to look at you want to scream. but after you hear what's happening here frankly you feel very differently because the region's governor in particular

has been facing harsh criticism for failing to address the protesters he reportedly apologized for the tragedy in a call to the president's however his deputy asked the crowd for forgiveness. you don't you stupid boy you don't because you are going to give me a good. stiff jago i do all those good old shit that i did yeah yeah get out those that sit in the military thank you good luck as if yes sure especially the british if he ever spoke up about it of course but thought you were the other no no you go under your feet major business here was to keep your friends. and your. people out protesting on camera of us main square for over ten hours this tuesday. is in the city for us has been talking to locals about what happened there emotional. and probably the perfect metaphor to sum up one question on everybody's mind in one way or another

or another is this kid. should be farther from the truth the mother should sleep this is not the issue in the gutter. recently. we've got a listener to a visit the first let's take a look at how much you have will help the cause now i'm stuck here for the federal civil liberty medical something to come across such good political systems so that it's not just what god says i must clearly the emotion here the emotion level is borderline hysterical people want to know why why the five prevention system didn't work see why people had to break through fire exits the very bad student were supposed to lead people to safety were logged soon people had to leave limited window for their lives running for their lives they wanted to know why the person

knows all the shopping mall you're snowed trained how to behave how to help people a situation such an emergency sure you stated helping the i. actually hampered the rescue efforts. there i ran upstairs cinema stuff didn't let me say they pushed me my daughter asked me why no one was saving her i asked if i meant to do something but he just stared. around two third floor firemen stood there doing nothing in front of the door my daughter told me that she'd love me and that she was suffocating us holder to get down on the floor and back her not to die the children our dear it isn't a matter of how many are dead now unless we change something hundreds of others could die this is of course is only a portion of experiences inside that shopping mall talking to people here talking to survivors we know that security guards actually often warn people about the

beginning fine and we've heard some stories of security guards heroically carrying children out of the blaze now another very important thing people want to know hayes whether or not the authorities are lowering down the number of the dead in the blaze because. everyone we've talked to from taxi drivers to bystanders passers by and people who brought flowers to the vigil all seem to believe that the actual number of people who died in the blaze could reach three hundred and five hundred people and that the authorities are trying to shoot down so to speak some people went to the morgue to see for with their own eyes whether or not the rumor is true and here's here's basically the two different points of view on this the authorities claim that sixty four bodies were found and a few are missing so numbers are not that high but no one believes that's why

because it was a sunday there were a lot of people it was a school holiday free movie tickets were handed out people arrived on tour buses that is widely known information. luckily i was at the morgue on volgograd street there are sixty seven bodies there sixty four of them from the shopping center burned bodies these three others are not related to that incident there are a lot of children that. landed here in camera in the morning and he has already laid flowers at the vigil and talked to some of the citizens to comfort them over their loss he wanted another for the first time to like he said i'm going to check in with you because with a mission from mr i mean you are. looking forward to a mission that you know no one is totally excluded which yeah i would be fucking the president bush that he said his words were code by the deputy governor also promised for everything to be out there in the open the russian investigative

committee is in its turn putting under arrest five people who they had earlier detained in connection with the blaze now among those people is the owner of the shopping mall the fire safety chief and one of the security guards right now it looks that everything is being done to bring all those responsible to justice. the blaze and camera is one of the deadliest in russia in living history and living memory it took firefighters over seventeen hours to extinguish it here's a closer look at how the catastrophe unfolded. the. don't ask papa. nine you want to see what you sent.

in years you know the usual musician if it gets. it. you get it was understood it was a two and she knew. it was. the first of that you know. how. difficult it is to achieve this is it so. if you.

want to stick to. the rule youngsters a visit to the big city is always an adventure these twelve year old classmates went to town and they went bowling ice skating so the cinema it would be their last adventure. if you teach them this little bit. to let you. you know. dozens and dozens dead but they aren't just numbers they all had names lives all the compensation in the world won't cover their family's loss especially given that so many of the victims were children masha was there with her

grandmother and she only turned ten last week and posted this photo in line exactly a decade is all she got in this world. both she and her grandmother perished. tiana an english teacher she was there with her daughter who survived that got out of the building before hearing that others was still trapped she went to help rescue who she could strangers but she never came back out you were the best teacher in the world right or former students you didn't deserve this we will all remember you stood. to lose it to you in this to do. this what you did was little rats aboard pictured here with his mom and dad she wasn't with them but imagine her pain when she had to

identify the bodies of her child and husband or even surviving is easy. some see he jumped others but his father threw him out of the window in a desperate effort to save his little boy before succumbing to the smoke him self his parents and little sister. there are too many to mention here but the point is made a list of names is one thing but it's only when you get to know them just a little that the depth of this tragedy really hits you wednesday has been declared a national day of mourning in russia dozens of cities across the country have announced remembered services for tuesday evening and people in israel hungary estonia ukraine and other countries have also been laying flowers outside russian

embassies flowers were also laid in the former soviet republics of kyrgyzstan and to g.q. style. achievement ina cancian of a correspondent is that a vigil in red square in moscow dana what's happening where you are right now. while this is just one of the two of vans that are taking place here and the russian capital to commemorate the victims of the deadly blaze in the city of camera and now a hero here in the downtown of moscow just overlooking ground when crowds of people keep coming in and they're bringing flowers and many of bringing a candle is now to the remembrance service going to take place just a little bit further away from here there is a bank where some of the photos of the victims are laid and people are laying flowers and lighting candles and paying their last respects now we see different people here mostly young people and students as working hours are not over here in the capital so we do expect to see more people coming in later today there's going

to be another event taking place just a walking distance away from here so we do expect to see more people later and moscow is not the only a city where remembrance service is taking place there actually taking place across the country as it is a very difficult moment now for the whole nation a horrible the tragic events took place on sunday and people are shocked not only in russia but across the world so it's quite extraordinary how people come together in situations like this medina caution of a from central moscow thank you for that . was. now two dozen western governments are sending home between them over one hundred russian diplomats expulsions off to show solidarity with the u.k. or to accuse his mosco of all castrating the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter earlier this month the british foreign secretary has

find his country's allies for the coordinated response. i've had a number of discussions with card courts across the e.u. the us and elsewhere which has helped foster and on precedented robust international response to this reckless russian are. well known are from correspondent. can you talk us through boris johnson statement we just heard right then some strong words been used yes that we've just had the u.k. foreign secretary boris johnson a pairing in front of m.p.'s out westminster following the news of the mass explosion expulsions of russian diplomats now he concluded that the u.k. had had numerous talks with the e.u. and the us which helps with this international response and he said that it was a considerable gesture from the number of countries that made this decision now it's a very similar response in fact to the u.k. prime minister as a reason may has said that the u.k. stands shoulder to shoulder with the e.u.

and nato ask the nato though we've really been mixed messages from the secretary general let's take a listen. we do not want a new cold war. today. that i could tell you all the seven stall of the russian mission to nato all. the pending i could request for three others so the secretary general has decided to reduce this number by if it is it really begs the question though of how nato is going to prevent a cold war because this expulsion is anything but friendly the russian foreign minister though has responded to the wave of expulsion saying russia where we tolerate these measures. but it was the reply didn't she warry no one would be willing since all rights was. not either. on monday more than one

hundred russian diplomats were expelled from a number of countries and it's actually been the largest collection of expulsions of russian diplomats in history now there are countries though that have said that they have no intention of expelling russian diplomats now these member states that austria greece portugal and it's a list of eleven countries that perhaps want to keep this open dialogue with russia is something that the president of the e.u. commission stressed at the e.u. summit last week as well but looking stateside though it appears that the u.s. is escalating the conflict with moscow spearheading the process by expelling sixty russian diplomats the largest number of diplomats ok later is that they thank you for that we're back at the top of the hour with the latest headlines see that.