i really am getting to resist. i don't see how that strategy will be successful, very critical of time to sit down and talk ah, the world pays tribute to the late soviet leader mikhail gorbachev for ending the cold war. but we're looking at number of consequences from his policies, such as the eastern expansion of nato and the conflict in ukraine. we get library actually. all to coming up in the program. the russian defense ministry stays ukraine has struck out radioactive waste processing. building up this up, a nuclear plant from counts as a team from the u. n. nuclear watchdog is on its way they're made rising concerns over what conclusions it will draw. also ahead today getting away from dependence

and from the west is now the number one task and for our energy cooperation with iran. it is developing progressively along with nuclear energy. the nuclear power plant brushes, foreign minister. it takes a swipe out the west while holding talks with his iranian counterpart in moscow, a across the globe around the clock. this is art. let's get straight tour, top new story today. on today's breaking news, the last leader of the soviet union mikhail gorbachev. house died, the 91 year old passed away in moscow central hospital after a prolonged illness. let's take a look through his legacy now and our special coverage here on our t. ah .

mikhail gorbachev. overhaul the soviet union's foreign policy by introducing the new political thinking doctrine, which thought relations with the west and brought up by the end of the costly cold war. gorbachev called for the world to be seen as united and interdependence, instead of divided into communists than capitalist countries. he saw the balance of interests of different countries as a way of solving international problems. universal values had to be recognized above all others, whether they be religious or national. the soviet leader also wanted to see the world free from all nuclear weapons by the start at the 21st century. russian officials have been expressing their condolences with the kremlin spokesperson dmitri pest golf, also highlighting gorbachev ce, quote, romanticize view of the world order. who succeed tara blight?

mikhail gorbachev is a statesman who will forever remain in the history of our country. many argue about the role he played, but the fact that he was an extraordinary person, a unique person, is unequivocal. he is known, remembered, and will be remembered. all over the world gorbachev gave impetus to the end of the world war, and he sincerely wanted to believe that that would end and there would be an internal romantic period between the new soviet union and the collective wes, this romanticism was not justified the romantic honeymoon century did not walk out the bloodthirsty notes of our opponents showed itself, or perhaps some background to those remarks falling mikhail gorbachev. world altering decisions, the nato military block expanded to the east and conflicts were seen in post soviet countries. another consequence, some allege from his overseeing of the clumps of the soviet union is the ongoing crisis in ukraine, wherever those consequences and

a nuanced discussion of them while they've been largely ignored by the western mainstream media, which has been healing. and mikhail gorbachev in its headlines at to day at less cross live now to roger and broadcast mary the jeff ski for her. take mary, good to at. see you a huge figure and here in russia decisive, i think it is fair to say mikhail gorbachev. but nevertheless, his time and charged to a seismic shift in, in global power, with the collapse of the u. s. s. r. how do you view his legacy? well, i think it depends so much where you see his legacy. there's been a lot of concentration today on his particular special relationship with margaret thatcher. as you can imagine, this is one of the things dominating the british news. slightly surprising to me for 30 plus years on. nonetheless,

this is all coming back as though it was yesterday, and then of course, the special relationship with ronald reagan. so you know, those, that, that's the focus that it's largely being seen through. and from my own experience, you know, i know so many people who lived in east and central europe in eastern germany as it was, who had their lives transport. and in the best way possible, by what gorbachev did his refusal to, to behave as soviet union. that behaved in texas about here in hungary, weather and people say, you know, things come from outside completely out of the blue and usually it's, it's a disaster or it's a victim of a crime or it's something absolutely terrible that happens. but in the case of the

full of the berlin wall, it changed millions of people's lives for the better. is there anything he could have done to, to change the course of history? here, russia, once the wheels were in motion and was nothing he could do at that time and the collapse was just inevitable. i think it's no, it's one of those very, very difficult questions was gorbachev as is often is often giving him credit for. was he as it were, the it was he in control of events? could he decide what happened next? was a lot of what happened in 1991 and indeed between 99981. was that part of, in fact a much bigger suite history in which gorbachev was just another player. and,

and i tend to think that you go, which of started out with quite a small scale vision, changing the soviet union. and changing the federated structure of the soviet union so that instead of being a top down state, it would become a bottom up state, a commonwealth where the individual republics would as it were, seed the power that they chose to the center rather like american states or german states due to the federation that wasn't, that wasn't to happen in part because, and belarus and the russian federation and ukraine together decided that they wanted independence in that. right. and they revoked the treaty which established the soviet union. and in those legal terms, that's how the soviet union collapsed. um and it can be seen as the product of

everything that the co pitch of started. and that sort of came to a completely different resolution from, from the one that he expected. was he in control at the end? he really wasn't in control. i've just been reading through some of the remarks by some russian officials and. and then from some of the leaders in the, in the west. russia doesn't appear to, to, to, to have any problems talking about his, his warts and all legacy. the good, the great, and perhaps the not so great. do you think he made some mistakes to where we are today in terms of, of conflicts or is that just a rule and amassing over the years or did some things stem with mikhail gorbachev? well, i think maybe it wasn't so much mistake, but it was maybe a,

a deficiency of michelle gorbachev's abilities and his character that i interviewed a lot of the young leaders at republic level after those republics became independent states after 1991. and some of them had very clear visions of what they thought was going to happen and what they wanted for their new country. i tended to feel that gorbachev was not one of those people who had a very clear vision of where to go that he would eat. he was really swept along by things. and this meant that when, when the soviet union seemed, seem dude to collapse, that he wasn't capable in any way of even making maybe relatively small adjustments that might have kept it together. you know, one thing that we get is that president george bush in the us was very

hostile to the idea of the soviet union breaking up. and he were a, he went to ukraine in the autumn and argued against ukrainian independence. and, and there was a lot of feeling in those times in those months, as the soviet union approached a lapse. that really this was going to be hugely d, stabilizing an element, not just in europe, but in the world as a whole. and there was a, there were some resistance to that, but i think the world, the one big negative. and in fact, to my mind, it was a mistake on the western side, quite as much as it was a mistake on the, on the russian side. was that the way, despite the works of george bush, when he was president. and there was to be no triumphalism,

that was no new as it were, dancing on grades of the soviet union. none the less in practice that sort of what happened. it was treated as a victory, a victory in g, a political terms, and a victory in ideological terms for what the americans would call the free world. and i think in some ways, indirectly, that lead slightly to where we are today, where the sense that russia last. so for respect or at least it lost respect from other parts of the world. and the sense that russia emerged much weaker and that it wasn't being treated as a great power. and i think there were ways that the west could have behaved differently that might have made what we're looking at today may be less likely than what's happened. fascinating with thank you for coming in the program area and sharing your views and,

and did your memories of fair. one of the most monmouth figures of the 20th century married to jeff ski writer and broadcaster live in art. well one indisputable fact is that mikhail gorbachev through led to the collapse of the soviet union. and just after this news block, the r t documentary team recalls one of the most important historic events of this, of the 20th century. i should say here is a quick preview of what is ahead. oh, you never dreamed that the use of hardwood collapse when you said that i was new aren't about to leave work for the union. but it would help for the end of soviet power for everything to turn off one ever to lucrative due to the current situation. yup. you're going to show you where you did. i'm

resigning as president of the usa so that the buller just rolled up our sleeves and same with your back wish to fall semester. yeah, i said firmly for the autonomy and independence of the peoples and sovereignty of the republics. while preserving b. u. s. has our is the state and the country's territorial integrity? ah, events have taken a different ah ah ah.

you can see more in that in 15 minutes time. okay, let's move on to the fellow ben snow. in the ukraine conflict, the russian defense ministry safe t f forces bond, a radio act of waste processing, building up as upper was senior care plant. on tuesday, the 30 states that one shall hit the building, but radiation levels have remained normal. there been numerous recent attacks of the nuclear plants, the nearby city of an inert, dark drone was reportedly shot done as well in the region this wednesday, by the russian military. this is what is left of it appears and remains looked have come down near the power plant, while another drone attack hit the city administration in enter a good dar. the building says thing, considerable damage. local officials say no one was hurt though in the incidents

the attacks come as the international atomic energy agency team is on its way there from ki. i know they are expected to reach the power station. today. moscow say that hope's the mission will help stop ukraine's quote, nuclear black mill or wherever you're cleaning. officials want the international nuclear watchdog to put all the blame for the situation on russia. why shouldn't? so the blended on and we hope that the visit of the international atomic energy agencies mission to this approach a nuclear plant will help stop t of provoking a catastrophe and stop it's nuclear blackmail as well. they will more. it is urgent to demilitarize, the plant withdrawal russian military clear, our plan to organize the demilitarized zone, both inside and around the nuclear power plant and transfer the entire plant under the control of the ukrainian state. we expect a clear statement from the international atomic energy agency mission about the violations of all nuclear safety protocols. we know that russia endangers not only

ukraine, but the whole world, exposing it to the risk of a nuclear catastrophe. the visit comes after another international watch dog amnesty international came under fire for its criticism of ukraine. earlier this month, it published the report accusing the ukrainian military and violating humanitarian law. the claim, the military is putting civilian lives up risk by placing its military assets close to civilian infrastructure. the report spar fury and cheese, which led to ominously issuing an apology. no independent experts are set to review . the findings of the report were former senior security policy analyst, the u. s. department of defense mike maloof believes the investigation must be impartial because the alternative would be catastrophic. it's very western dominated, as you can imagine. so it's going to be, it's gonna take

a western more western perspective on things and, and that seems to be the crux of this entire crisis in the 1st place of these versus west. but i, but i'm hoping that they give them more impartial analysis of the safety of keep of, of the facility. because the, the alternative would be very, very, very serious for all of europe and perhaps the world because of the radiation leaks. and it's really imperative that the inspectors ensure that they're, that leaks are minimized and that there is no way that and, and, and to encourage ukrainians, especially this to quit firing on it. it just makes a logical sense. i mean, i have parker see of, of the creative statement. it's just numbing it's, it's amazing. and i think that this is just something that they stop showing it

naturally. it's going to lessen radiation concerns. while the iranian foreign minister has lashed on the international atomic energy agency during media conference in moscow, he uses of bias over attempts to restart the nuclear deal struck between t. ron washington, another key global powers back in 2015 battle year june 30th i ran needs all parties from the g p. o a to have been all their unsubstantiated political views. we need more guarantees from the u. s. a needs to abandon political stance on the issue and instead commit more to his professional requirement. this is also part of the guaranteed issue. if the u. s. side can lift sanctions and they're realistic about our concerns. and if we can agree on this, the deal will be struck in just a reminder back in 2018 that then us president donald trump, quit the new killer deal and, and post har, sanctions that are still in effect response around ramped up its nuclear program to

its most advanced age ever but stresses as it's repeatedly dom that it's not seeking in nuclear weapon, but using it for energy purposes. during today's press conference, the russian foreign minister demanded all the iranian sanctions be lifted and underline the importance of moving away from any dependence. the west senior circle illegal. and he, iranian sanctions must be lift it. we support the position of iran and the nuclear deal, and hope the talks will conclude soon is necessary to draw conclusions from what's happening in the world. in any countries interested in the independent development should not be hostage to sanctions. globalization has shown that the u. s. in its satellites, a using the dollar to manipulate well trade organizations which do not suit the u. s. whole countries that are interested in their independence must take steps regardless of the dictates of the collective west. we're actively engaged in this with all of our reliable partners, including the islamic republic of iran, getting away from dependence and from the west is now the number one task and for

our energy cooperation with iran. it is developing progressively along with nuclear energy and nuclear power plants. the european union has canceled that agreement with russia on issuing simplified visas. search european ministers are divided over the idea of a total ballon. russian tourist, which has been opposed by countries and like hungry, the netherlands and luxembourg. let's get the taken all this from our tea country to rachel at. marston. hi, rachel indeed. yeah. take us through what was agreed to day by you members and what it means. so what the minister settled on in a majority vote at this meeting in prague was to suspend a simplified an expedited visa regime for russians. concretely, this means the russian tourists applying for a visa will have to wait up to 6 months for visa processing as opposed to the

current 3. and they'll be charged 80 euro's for the visa instead of the current $35.00. they may also be subjected to more probing as to the reason for their travel. and it's also important to note that this is a political consensus that's been reached. it's not yet legal taxed. also, the european commission is going to have to figure out, joseph burrell says, what to do with the russian visas that have already been issued. now the blocks 27 foreign minister spent the past 2 days. unable to come to an agreement on the full ban on russian tourists that estonia latvia and finland had been demanding. so you countries that share a board with russia and which have already adopted their own bands for which the ease chief diplomat, joseph burrell, just said in a press conference today that they have the use blessing to implement so much for speaking with one united you voice currently, anything goes in the you,

when the unilateral actions of member states target russians barrel also said that the you won't recognize russian passports issued in territories of ukraine controlled by russia. hungary opposed their proposed ban and germany and france had also been circulating a memo, calling for the quote, need to strategically fight for the hearts and minds of the russian population. and suggesting that a band would hinder those efforts, winning hearts and minds. god be kidding me. you slap the average russian with sanctions multiple times and now you want to seduce them. sounds a bit like an abusive, toxic relationship, or maybe like a bad french romance movie. by way, does the average russian even know or care that you think it's fighting for their hearts and minds when all they can be seen is animosity. and what are france and germany doing to win the hearts and minds of their own people as they insist on maintaining sanctions on their own energy supply that punished the average citizens

with sky high energy bills and threats of crackdowns through rationing. he of had been lobbying, you nations to impose the strict this ban on all russians, regardless of the tourist individual political position. visa v, the ukraine conflict. figuring that would put pressure on moscow to abandon its objective and interests with respect to ukraine. because apparently they're resorting to targeting the average russian in the street now in the us since they're sanctions on every other aspect of the russian economy. have been such a whopping success. so basically, it's another, questionably effective symbolic half measure. see how that goes? or to contribute rachel morrison taken us through that. thanks, rachel. just another aspect of what was being explained there earlier this week. the polish prime minister stress the you also write by disagreements over the ways

. and the grees of support for ukraine runs the risk of quote, imploding. do you think the divisions between the countries at one piece and those that want to ukraine to win by any means could one day lead to an explosion of the european union? yes, this threat of implosion does exist. that is why it's so important to maintain dialogue among us to find compromises in a common denominator. on the issue of support for ukraine isn't improving divisive within the youth. the austrian defense minister house question whether blocks age should be undertaking training missions along with the ukranian army. but our german counterpart claims berlin's reached its limit of weapons available for donating to get that contradicts the most recent comments from the you. foreign policy chief regarding the unions readiness to supply ukraine with as much aid for as long as it might need it, do repair and union. it stands united in support of ukraine, and

a member of stage remains ready to continue support as long as needed. and as much as needed, i tried to get some understanding. as germany's defense minister, i have to be honest, does, in the case of deliveries from boon does their dogs, we have now reached the limit of a please to michelle and just to point out currently, all strategic common e decisions are adopted on a solely unanimous basis wherever the german shelter has proposed ending the practice and switching to a majority vote system, political analysts and commented, or nikolai mark, which believes about along with the disagreements so broad best to support ukraine, shows the inability of the system to solve global crises. the only thing that these are, these weapons are doing, i are killing people. they're killing everybody fighting and you create including ukrainians, and definitely they're not making the situation better for anybody living in ukraine. this is definitely not the solution. it hasn't worked from the beginning. it's not working now and it's causing debt and it's making our economic system are

paying for this and we're all paying for this. it is showing that the european union is not at all a democratic institution. the european union is incapable of managing major crisis, as we've seen these past years. they still think those who are at the head of the european union, that there are no problems that they're managing, managing everything seamlessly. and instead of taking a foot back and taking a look at the situation and trying to find solutions there, thing, but will make more countries enter this, this, this union and without. and that means that there would be doing this without even respecting their own rules, saying that there has to be a majority vote and more than a majority, a unanimous vote. so they're just trying to get these new countries into the european union as if they wanted to get them as soon as possible. so they could set the doors and make some sort of big european union family. but what type of family are we talking about when people are cuing around european union nations, countries queuing,

to get bread queuing to get coal. there's not working on mikhail gorbachev. legacy where it's a lot is examined next in our short documentary of the soviet union's last liter passes away aged 91 and try that the ah, the 1st time in history, an entire country's culture has been cancelled the very modern weapon console culture. really desert wonderful. i wish i feel my last lot in william frog yet just me sitting there with the phrase now particularly refers to canceling russian culture. and yet them know what could be up a few orders that i give to william, i was sure which will be all there is, shall i live with. so out that all the,

most of the separate random eat them, we what rushes created over the past 1500 years. there's no question. partially condemned, reviled and rejected. just sort of like a will of bramble. there's a lot closer. i want to hold out any time. thank you said a little short list. joining total condemnation, gross daily, and now includes dostoevsky to cascade shostakovich that i need to you a quick tour left. but yes, she says that what the time will you do? obama lee, you're not going to do that. end up with a

wrong one. i just don't know. i mean, you have to figure out because the advocate and engagement it was the trail. when so many find themselves, well the part we used to look for common ground. ah, you more be a precursor? she, it was someone who would it, it means go to what? sure. of course. ah, in 1991, the situation spirals completely out of control, got a book shelf announced the referendum for the spring of that year. he asked soviet citizens to vote on whether the state should be preserved on changed the system was

this provide you with that the city anthem with, with on the sienna formula. so you can say, ah, trenton easter is a narrow strip of land along the bank of the nice the river in soviet times it was part of the mold davian, soviet socialist republic. in the late 19 eighties, the winds of change began to blow and chisel and local nationalists demanded that they switch to the latin alphabet and speak romanian trans. nister's predominantly, russian population, resisted the changes to rascal the capital, declared its refusal to secede from the usaa man. yeah, let me just out the door over the so yes go to sheila but she moved the room. me last. it is not a few more of them get a.