this is crimea.nce russia annexed the peninsula from ukraine, pushing east and west into a new cold war. today, moscow is cementing its presence. with a bridge that will bind crimea to the russian mainland. with its military, too, russia's moved its most powerful weapons here, and where ever you go in crimea you're left in no doubt who's in charge. 0lga welcomes russian rule. crimea, she says, has returned home. she chides western leaders who disagree. we don't understand them because we are already for three years we're in russia. we changed everything. we changed our rules, our documents, everything and our soul is in russia. and i even have the t—shirt, t—shirt with putin, and the words are "in putin we trust," like "in god we trust." moscow admits its take over of crimea was a military operation. it sent russian special forces here. days later, after a referendum, not recognised initially, crimea was declared part of russia. svetlana had opposed the annexation, but three years on, her perspective

signing the order to annex crimea three years ago.ys been and remains an inseparable part of russia, he said. this conviction based on truth and fairness has always been present and passed from generation to generation. both time and circumstances could not erase it. it's important to remember that crimea has been home to russia's black sea naval fleet for over 200 years, not something easy for russia to give up. three years after the annexation russia says crimea has been fully integrated into russia while many krimians say there is much work to be done. the luxury hotel, when a chef prepares crimean oysters and is experimenting with local products instead of products from abroad. i only serve local food made from local ingredients, he says. we just drive around here and pick the suppliers. we go to oyster farms and trout farms. of course many things harder to come by because of international sanctions slapped on russia for the annexation of crimea, but general manager of the hotel says business is still going well. there's a tendenc

steve rosenberg, bbc news, crimea.her failed to do and win france's 2017 presidential election? her party, the front national has long had significant support and could now win the most votes in the first round of the election. it struggled in the past due to its reputation for extremism. its attitudes to issues like immigration, homosexuality and the holocaust. as lucy williamson has been finding out, marine le pen has been credited with detoxifying the image which herfather had done so much to create. a year ago, boris and his husband eric left the urban rat race for a farmhouse in burgundy. with an orchard, a vegetable garden and pet chickens. named after president holland's girlfriends. boris describes himself as an orphan of the socialist party, pushed away by what he sees as the left‘s cosying up to radical islam. now he says he feels most at home with the leader of the front national, marine le pen. why vote front national? it's simple. it's marine le pen. if it were her father in charge, it would be no, because

there is no direct land route from russia to crimea. planes and these ferries the only way for russians to get there. cars are often stuck in traffic for days this woman says. and sometimes the connection is disruptive because of sea storms. of course if we had a bridge, we would have more people here too. the russians are building a bridge for faster access in the future. russia hopes to complete the bridge by 2018. ite it's supposed to include a rail think as well as a motor way. and many here in crimea hope that the bridge will help a leel great alleviate a lot of the problems. for now however the bridge, like much of the integration ever crimea into russia, remains a work in progress. >> fred pleitgen, thank you so much. claire sebastien is live with us from moscow. we just heard about the situation in ukraine. let's talk about the situation in eastern ukraine. very unstable at this point. angela merkel while in the united states alongside with u.s. president trump expressed her hopes that things might improve. let's listen. >> tran

nevertheless, putin took crimea illegally, in violation of international law, annexed crimea into the russian federation. so there is a very clear and rence between kosovo crimea. now, you also asked me why the u.s. engage in ukraine, because the united don't have interests, ukraine? in actually, i do not agree with you. i think it is of strategic importance for the united states to help ukraine. is, so to speak, the and e between russia europe. if the united states gives up russia, it wouldn't make america great. would contrary, it strengthen and embolden putin, ho is challenging american global leadership. has strong strategic interests in keeping ukraine as western world. host: okay. form eformer nato ecretary general anders rasmussen. and as we talk about the u.s. relations, we have a line of 202-748-8003. if you're outside the united we encourage you to join the conversation as well. want to ask about a tweet you sent yesterday. you said the world hasn't become a more peaceful place after u.s. hesitation to act over eight years. we need a policeman and only play that role. what d

>> no compromise about crimea, and crimea is issue about truce and international law. >> how important is our aid to ukraine? >> the u.s. support and assistance and reform related assistance -- in the sense of our ability -- in the sense of us creating democratic and ukraine. >> thank you. ambassador wilczek, your country of poland is uniquely positioned. you have always been uniquely positioned between conflict between russia and ukraine. it eu and nato interest. russia's deployment missiles, i assume that creates significant challenges for you, am i correct on that? >> as i have just said, the deployment of these missiles is very essential for our security is a kind of -- i think it was a kind of break through moment because it strengthens this feeling of insecurity and uncertainly and it's not only about poland, it's about flexibility of nato in this region and it's about also about the baltic countries and our countries. so this area of this region is especially sensitive area, as i said, the most militaryized in the whole of europe i think. >> are you getting -- do you get support

then russia illegally annexed crimea and sent in troops to donetsk and luhansk.e for this kind of decision. going back to our prospective nato membership, we are very pragmatic and realistic and i do understand that we cannot get it in the short term. but in the long term, in case if we modernise our military, if we pass reforms that are needed for the ukrainian military, and we are on track with these, with the support of brits, canadians and americans, if we approximate ukrainian military up to nato standards it's in your interests to have ukraine as a nato member. we are defending your borders and your security. i come back to the phrase wishful thinking. vladimir putin in effect has a veto on ukraine's membership of nato, does he not? vladimir putin in terms of nato and ukrainian sovereignty. so you believe that putin is stronger than the leaders of the free world? i believe in realism and pragmatism. you say in ukraine... you're going to lose in this case. ..putin has thousands of russian troops on ukrainian soil. right. that's what you say. you say that rus

around 23,000 troops in the occupied crimea. just a few hours ago the russian agent is an international made a completely ridiculous statement that the militants actually discovered all this ordinary in the old coal mines. just today, can -- has led to over 7% of ukraine occupied almost 10,000 of my fellow ukrainians or military civilians losing their lives with another 23,000 injured. in the last six weeks, they launched a fierce attack against our troops and civilian population. russia has recognized the documents issued by a legal entities and also completed the introduction of the currency in the occupied territory and furthermore, russia has also ordered the legal expropriation of the key enterprises in the occupied territory. all of this is a breach of each and every agreement. the only way to negotiate with russia is from a position of strength and international solidarity. no agreement should be made with russia until such as delivered. let me thank all of you for the support the united states has given in particular ove

we saw that in crimea. third, the hybrid i mention the challenges by russia's goes beyond the conventional military round. we see them in the cyberinformational and energy domains. russia deliberately employs hybrid means to act below the threshold of a military conflict. moscow often asked by exploiting national vulnerabilities and sensitivities. this might involve actions in the cyberdomain, frequently backed by a fierce propaganda after. ukraine is the case in point. while countries in central europe tried to diversify their import route, russia promotes the pipeline created the divisions among e.u. members dates. should this project go ahead, russia could affect the really sad the diversification effort of the whole region, increased gas supply from russia would inevitably affect the economic viability of lng projects and central and eastern europe. fourth, i respond, two words, uncertainty and insecurity, best described the current security situation we operate in. such conditions and challenges call f

notice crimea, it's going to take 500 more years before crimea becomes part of russia.the theories about power and the distribution of power in the international system. not just europe but the system which is to say, russia was weak after the collapse of the soviet union. probably not as weak as we thought it was but it was weak. on their knees. rush is back and this is just a natural correction. rush is not a great power, probably not i think the president, president obama really got under the skin sent a regional power or local power but they are a power in the system and are behaving like a great power in the system. what's the big deal? very popular here in moscow. very popular throughout the university of chicago. part of this is true. anybody from moldova? nobody, good. i actually love moldova. it's a great country. i traveled there once with the vice president. he got the largest crowd ever from one of his speeches, so vice president biden also loves mulled over. nobody is worried about moldova overthrowing the international system. nobody is worried about moldo

troops that occupy crimea. just a few hours ago, the russian agent of the international code of justice made completely ridiculous statement that russian-backed militants actually discovered all those weaponry being hidden in the old soil coal mines. it is a case, just today, can anyone believe it? kremlin's word against my country over the last three years led to over 7% of ukraine being occupied, almost 10,000 of my fellow ukrainians born militari military civilians losing their life and to,000 injured. just in the last six weeks, russians launch gains against our troops and civilian population. russia recognize documents and also completed the introduction of the russian ruble has currency in occupied territory. furthermore, russia has also ordered the legal ex appropriation of the key enterprises in occupied territory.exappropriation of th enterprises in occupied territory. this is a clear breach of the minsk disagreement. the only way to deal with russia is from a position of strength and international sol

is it surrogates that crimea is a clean example to me. they outrighted inva einnovated armed military force and annexed it. >> are they still in ukraine? >> they're supporting the effort to split that country. >> what would it mean to russia and to putin to have sanctions lifted? >> easing of economic impact. greater flexibility. more resources. >> according to nato analysis, the russian economy shrunk by as much as 3.5% in 2015 and had no growth in 2016. in big part because of western sanctions especially those against the oil and gas industry. we're talking about a loss of over $135 billion just in the first year of sanctions. a huge sum of money. sanctions aren't meant to push their economy over a cliff but put long-term pressure on putin to change his behavior. putin himself said in 2016, the sanctions are severely harming russia so we know they've had success in putting pressure on the kremlin. admiral, what would it mean geopolitically? would it help legitimate russia's illegal land grab? >> sir, i'm not in a position to talk broadl

not just crimea.e wanted all 45 million ukrainians to be a part of this union, because those are consumers and those are places for trade and investment. belarus and kazakhstan wasn't enough. and that was a central focus of his foreign policy at the time i was u.s. ambassador. i heard a lot about it at the time. anybody buy anything made in russia here? what did you buy? >> vodka. mr. mcfaul:vodka, ok. you buy it here or did you buy it there? >> both. mr. mcfaul:vodka, that's one. anything else? butamiseum. they are really strong beer. i would not advise it. but the point is, there are very few things that russia exports abroad that are made in russia. but in ukraine, ukrainians are consumers that buy a lot of things made in russia. so to make this work, you need all of ukraine, not just crimea. centralif that's his focus, to suddenly pivot the other way, ensuring, in my view, never join inould eurasian economic union as a result of his annexation of and intervention in eastern ukraine. something more

notice crimea, it will take 500 years before crimea becomes part of russia. here is a theories about power and distribution of power in the international system. probably not as weak as we thought it was. this is just a natural correction. i think president obama really got under their skin, saying it regional power or local power. they are behaving like a great power in the system. very popular theory at the university of chicago. part of this is true. anybody from moldova? ok, good. country.en a great he got one of the largest crowds ever. moldovas worried about annexing territory. they don't have power and capabilities to do that. power he didn't have wouldn't be concerned about it. it was ahink sufficient explanation for a couple of reasons. i can think of countries that rise in power and don't invade their neighbors. japan and germany come to mind right away. poland has territorial claims, nobody's worried about poland. will come back to that if you are interested. even china, i spent it -- i spent a chunk of my last summer in china. an argument, whether

if they can legitimate their annexation of crimea, what's next? are we looking at new iron curtain descending across eastern europe? you know, most in our country recognize what is at stake and how the united states, as a leader of the free world, is the only check on russian expansion. so back to mr. trump and his cohort. at the republican convention in july, paul manafort, carter page and trump himself changed the republican party platform to no longer arm ukraine. so the same month that trump denied putin's role in ukraine, his team weakened the party platform on ukraine, and as we have and will continue to hear, this was the same month that several individuals in the trump orbit held secret meetings with russian officials, some of which may have been on the topic of sanctions against russia, or their intervention in ukraine. this is no coincidence in my opinion. in fact, the dossier written by former mi-6 agent christopher steele alleges that trump agreed to sideline russian intervention in ukraine as a campaign issue which is effectively a pr

why did he take crimea? why did he take crimea? a lot of it was aimed at the west as well as the situation in ukraine. ukraine was the bridge too far for him. the idea that the west would establish a diplomatic and economic bridge head in a country that putin doesn't even consider a country, he considers it part of the russian heritage. that was a bridge too far. >> stalin was from crimea. >> he was from georgia. >> was he from georgia? somebody was from crimea. oh, the author. >> on that happy note, when we figure out where uncle joe was brought up we'll take our first break. when we come back, one of the reasons why for all the talk of fake news some people believe this administration equals the newspaper journalist full employment act of 2017. the "washington post" is on the board with another exclusive story. we'll be back to talk about that and continue our discussion with david remnick right after this. ♪ when i got into my accident i broke almost every bone in both my legs. when i came home from the hospital i needed to be a

why did he take crimea? why did he take crimea? a lot of it was aimed at the west as well as the situation in ukraine. ukraine was the bridge too far for him. the idea that the west would establish a diplomatic and economic bridge head in a country that putin doesn't even consider a country, he considers it part of the russian heritage. that was a bridge too far. >> stalin was from crimea. >> he was from georgia. >> was he from georgia? somebody was from crimea. oh, the author. >> on that happy note, when we figure out where uncle joe was brought up we'll take our first break. when we come back, one of the reasons why for all the talk of fake news some people believe this administration equals the newspaper journalist full employment act of 2017. the "washington post" is on the board with another exclusive story. we'll be back to talk about that and continue our discussion with david remnick right after this. this is the silverado special edition. this is one gorgeous truck. oh, did i say there's only one special edition? because,

if they can legitimate their annexation of crimea, what's next? are we looking at new iron curtain descending across eastern europe? you know, most in our country recognize what is at stake and how the united states as a leader of the free world is the only check on russian expansion, so back to mr. trump and his cohort. at the republican convention in july paul maniford, carter paige, says and trump himself, changed the republican party platform to no longer arm ukraine. so the same month that trump denied putin's role in ukraine, his team weakened the party platform on ukraine, and as we have and will continue to hear, this was the same month that several individuals in the trump orbit held secret meetings with russian officials. some of which may have been on the topic of sanctions against russia for their intervention in ukraine. this is no coincidence in my opinion. in fact, the dossier written by -- christopher steel alleges that trump agreed to sideline russian intervention in ukraine as a campaign issue, which is effectively a priority for

if they can legitimate into the annexation of crimea, what is next? are we looking at a new iron curtain just sending across eastern europe? you know, most in our country recognize what is at stake and how the united states as a leader of the free world is the only check on russian expansion, so back to mr. trump and his cohort. at the republican convention stated, page, and trump himself change the party platform to no longer eat arm ukraine, so the same month that trump denied putin's role in the campaign, his team weakened the party platform on ukraine, and as we have and will continue to hear, this was the same month that several individuals in the trump orbit held secret meetings with russian officials. some of which may have been on the topic of sanctions against russia or their intervention in ukraine, this is no coincidence in my opinion. in fact the dossier written by former mi6 agent says that he wanted this to be a campaign issue, effectually for vladimir putin. there is a lot in the dossier that has yet to be proven, but we will care throu

you brieflyrs can describe as you understand it, how russian took crimea? rogers: they occupied it and remove it from uranian control. explain how these ukraine? russia and rogers: what we saw was a much bigger effort on the attempts to distance russian actions from any potential blowback. to support the forcible separation of the ukraine. >> has russia returned crimea back to ukraine? adm. rogers: no. >> do they have intention to? adm. rogers: they have said they will not. >> and my right that they see it as part of a broader objective to influence and impact ukraine's desire for self-determination. yes.rogers: i think that's part of it. >> the u.s. and the rest of the world saw the annexation for what it was. after pressure mated, the united nations essentially declared it a crime in a nonbinding resolution. government instituted sanctions against russia. is that right? adm. rogers: yes. >> russia invaded another country. we all stood shoulder to .houlder one who did not, it's president trump. putin he is not going to ukraine. admiral, hadn't putin alread

in 2015, the annexation of crimea and the shooting down of mh 17 in 2014 then its intervention in syria all showed how russia had become more aggressive. the 2016 saw a further step very clear eyed view of russian behavior. alexander was murdered on british soil in 2006. in 2015, the annexation of crimea and the shooting down of mh 17 in 2014 then its intervention in syria all showed how russia had become more aggressive. the 2016 saw a further step change in russian behavior. it is seeking to expand its sphere of influence. destabilized countries and weaken the alliance. it seeks to weaken today's international rules based system, to write a new set of rule on their terms and reflecting their values. we are responding as an alliance to desuede and to deter. and also to engage. as the prime minister has said last week, we stand ready to engage with russia, but we are -- the scale and breadth of those challenges, the speed and change in some other events, not least the uk's decision to leave the european union leads some distinguished and voices to suggest that we need to rewrite our sds

crimea is very clean example.they outright invaded with armed military force and have annexed it. >> are they effectively still in ukraine? >> they're certainly supporting the ongoing effort in the ukraine to split that country. >> we'll get back to mr. trump in a minute. first tell me, sir, what would it mean to russia and putin to have sanctions lifted? >> clearly easing of economic impact. greater flexibility. more resources. >> according to nato analysis the russian economy shrunk by as much as 3.5% in 2015 and had no growth in 2016. in big part because of western sanctions, especially those against the oil and gas industry. we're talking about a loss of over $135 billion. just in the first year of sanctions. it's a huge sum of morn -- money. they are not to put the economy over a cliff but put long term pressure on putin. putin said in 2016 sanctions are severely harming russia. so we know they had success putting pressure on the kremlin. admiral, what would it mean geopolitically, would it help, would it hel

the budapest agreement was to protect ukraine including crimea. >> and guaranteed crimea to be part ofcorct. if my father were still alive, he would wonder, will our government fail to keep its promises about our security to its citizens the same way it's failed to keep its promises with ukraine? and what is the united states' plan to help ukraine now? >> a couple months ago i went with president poroshenko and met with the front line troops. he gave out medals to some of these brave ukrainian marines and soldiers who are fighting and he gave a medal to a mother whose son had just been killed by a russian sniper. that's pretty moving, and we're not doing enough about it, and we need to help ukrainians, and the first thing that president trump could do is give ukrainians defensive weapons so they can defend themselves against superior russian equipment. they're slaughtering ukrainians with superior equipment, and the obama administration wouldn't give them lethal weapons to defend themselves. >> and your question is a good one. i hope people are following this. after the soviet fell apa

during the obama presidency russia quote ran over the united states and in particular picked off crimea and added missiles which the president described in his tweet as weak. given that he seems to be focused on crimea, at least as far as his tweet is concerned will the president use the authority and funding granted him to send lethal defensive weapons to you caukraine, was i party platforms though the republican language was watered down and if he's not going to i asked you this several weeks ago if president doesn't want to do it, is that because he would rather focus his efforts with russia on partnering to try to defeat isis? >> i think ambassador haley, at the u.n., any annexations to crimea are not -- until that has been resolved. the president has made it very clear that miss philosophy is not one that i'm going to tell you what i'm going to do, he colds his cards close to his vest. >> -- to deal with sanctions. >> i'm not going to get into the president's negotiation strategy. as he continues to engage with the president of russia around secretary tillerson -- brian, it's your

she supports russia's annexation of crimea.e said that before previously, but obviously saying that if either vladimir putin isa saying that if either vladimir putin is a different value. —— what do she wa nt is a different value. —— what do she want out of that. she gave the russians everything she they wanted —— they wanted on crimea. russians everything she they wanted -- they wanted on crimea. and that was the co—founder of the news website rue89.com. stay with us. still to come: we'll reveal how our correspondent got on when he tried to order a beer from a robot barman. let there be no more war or bloodshed between arabs and israelis. with great regret, the committee have decided that south africa should be excluded from the 1970 competition. streaking across the sky, the white hot wreckage from mir drew gasps from onlookers on fiji. this is bbc news. the latest headlines. donald trump has pulled his health—care bill after it became clear he didn't have enough support from his own party to wind a vote in congress. british

the invasion of crimea and the thexation of crimea was first forcible seizure in europe sense of the -- seizure of land in europe since the second world war. the u.k. government is committed to keeping sanctions and other restrictions on russia for as long as it takes to rectify that position. well,not want to go to a let's move on, thank you very much. that is the view that most of our european allies hold firm to as well and we hope the new american administration will say the same. engage we do want to with russia, i think it is important that the line of communication is open so we can understand how their doctrine is evolving and it has evolved. it is involved quite a lot more and the west half. i want to make sure nobody would ever accuse people in the west of falling into the trap of miscalculation or not understanding where russia is coming from. i mentioned what the prime minister said about engaged but aware, i think that is what we are doing. my colleagues went over to see his colleagues last week in order to make some of those points and to generate a -- our foreignat sec

russia has endangered our service members, threatened our allies, illegally annexed crimea, engaged in war crimes in their bombing in aleppo, and actively worked to undermine our democracy. these revelations are onlied aing more smoke to the russian fire, and it's clear we need a special prosecutor to investigate. the american people expect this investigation to be free from any political interference or influence or bias. we need someone to cut through the smoke and to clear the air. an independent special prosecutor should be appointed to examine russia's campaign to interfere in our election as well as any association or coordination between the trump campaign and russia. i also believe that the time has come to create an independent, nonpartisan commission to fully investigate russian's interference. earlier today, i cosponsored legislation introduced by senator cardin that would create such a commission and provide it with the necessary subpoena power to get the aences that the american people -- get the answers that the american people clearly deserve. this is not about democrats

crimea, 19th century imperialist here, engraved in my soul -- i think crimea is a legitimate sphere of russian influence. the idea that democrats are suddenly prepared to launch world war iii over crimea -- it's completely preposterous. where were they almost 40 years ago? >> tucker: in a very different place. a little weird to hear people who lionize hugo chavez. trump's position, he said it out loud, we share a common enemy with radical islam. is that a tenable plan? >> i think so. at his rally tonight, he was emphasizing american plans, make america great again. putin wants to make russia great again. and so far as those objectives do not conflict, we should think strategically. russia has had a much better track record in syria. they've kept their strongman in place, we spent 15 years in ina ramshackle stone age basket caves like afghanistan and we've got nothing to show for it. trump is right, we can learn from putin in these parts of the world. >> tucker: nicely put. mark stein. >> thank you. >> tucker: up next, what would ronald reagan do? we will talk to a rake and biographer a

i think crimea is a legitimate sphere of russian influence. the idea that democrats are suddenly prepared to launch world war iii over crimea -- it's completely preposterous. where were they on this 40 years ago? >> tucker: in a very different place. a little weird to hear people who lionize hugo chavez. trump's position, he said it out loud, we share a common enemy in radical islam. with the russian government and we can make common cause to fight it. is that a tenable plan? >> i think so. at his rally tonight, he was emphasizing american plans, make america great again. putin wa again. and insofar as those objectives do not conflict, we should think strategically. russia has had a much better track record in syria. they've kept their strongman in place, we spent 15 years in a ramshackle stone age basket case like afghanistan and we've got nothing to show for it. trump is right, we can learn from putin in these parts of the world. >> tucker: nicely put. as always, mark steyn. the best. >> thank you. >> tucker: up next, what would ronald reaga

russia sent its troops to the part of ukraine that's called crimea.y march russia had not just invaded, they had taken over. they just took it. they took part of another country. and here's an interesting totalitarian part of that. russia likes to appear as if it is a constitutional democracy. on paper it is. there's not just authoritarian leader vladimir putin now in the 17th year of his reign. there is technically a russian parliament, the duma. the putin used to behave like a parliament but now it does whatever putin wants. and putin does go through the moments, it's like a pageant. so part of him invading and seizing ukraine and saying it's part of russia now, part of that process is he had a russian parliament hold a vote on that. march 20, 2014, they held a vote and surprise the russian parliament voted overwhelmingly to say yes to putin, yes, president putin, yes, take it, take that part of ukraine, annex it, call it russia now. but check this out, look at the vote count. the vote was 443 in favor to 1 against. one. one member of parliament loo

crimea, 19th century imperialist here, engraved in my soul -- i think crimea is a legitimate sphere of russian influence. the idea that democrats are suddenly prepared to launch world war iii over crimea -- it's completely preposterous. where were they almost 40 years ago? >> tucker: in a very different place. a little weird to hear people who lionize hugo chavez. trump's position, he said it out loud, we share a common enemy with radical islam. is that a tenable plan? >> i think so. at his rally tonight, he was emphasizing american plans, make america great again. putin wants to make russia great again. and so far as those objectives do not conflict, we should think strategically. russia has had a much better track record in syria. they've kept their strongman in place, we spent 15 years in ina ramshackle stone age basket caves like afghanistan and we've got nothing to show for it. trump is right, we can learn from putin in these parts of the world. >> tucker: nicely put. mark stein. >> thank you. >> tucker: up next, what would ronald reagan do? we will talk to a rake and biographer a

russia also having illegally invaded ukraine and annexed crimea continues to promote violence and instability in eastern ukraine leading to the deaths of thousands. all of these human rights violations within russia and in countries around its sphere of influence in its region suggest to us that they need to be held accountable for these violations of basic human rights. like the senator from south florida, i led a codel to eastern and central europe. mine was not last week. it was last august. but with two republican house members and two democratic senate members, the five of us went to the czech republic to ukraine and toes -- toes stone i can't and heard concern about the record of disrespect for democracy in russia and about this aggressive hybrid warfare campaign that threatens ukraine stability andistence. that puts estonia on warning and czech independence and czech elections all across central and western europe. i've heard from, we have heard from ambassadors, experts, those who have testified in front of committees on which we serve about a russian campaign, a brutal campaign to un

she claims that crimea, the ukrainian peninsula co ntroversially that crimea, the ukrainian peninsulaian. translation: you know my position is unknown. i rarely change them, which probably makes me an exception. —— mayan positions are known. the national front leader may have won widespread support in france, but her populist views have deterred most foreign leaders. vladimir putin, however, says she represents a fast—growing element of european politics. russia may already be accused of meddling in the us election to help donald trump wind the white house, at the kremlin denies those claims, and insists it will not try to influence next month's election. recent opinion polls in france put ms le pen neck and neck in the first round with centrist candidate emmanuel macron, who is the favourite to win in the run—off. this meeting delivered a not so subtle hints that russia would be happy to deal with a president le pen. the european union celebrates its 60th anniversary on saturday. all but one of the 28 leaders of the eu nations have gathered in rome. britain is, of course, missing. th

to take the 296 the annexation of crimea to take the 2% guideline and make it policy and said countrieso by 2024. all nato countries agreed including germany and as chancellor merkel in her press conference on friday reaffirmed, that commitment. we must have that commitment implemented, some of us would like it sooner rather than later. that's not the same as saying anyone rather than later. that's not the same as saying anyone owes rather than later. that's not the same as saying anyone owes the united states vast sums of money. as the president put it in his press conference and then this tweet. we owe to our countries to defend ourselves, everyone makes a national decision about how much defence is going to be done within nato. there is no kitty in which people pour money so they can pay the united states or anyone else for that. but if you are sitting in america are paying taxes, why should you feel you have been subsidising europe's security and why should nations not have a much tighter deadline by which they have got to put the money in? on the deadline we can have that discussio