as far as ukraine is concerned i spoke from the leading political coordinator mr. michael stormer he set that the absence of russia from the summit was a serious strategic error. gives you a sense of how many view the absence of vladimir putin and russia from this summit. >> if you look at all the other issues laid out by angela merkel chem there are a lot of things to get through a lot of pressing issues. it seems as though there is a call to look out for the less fortunate countries a call for more corporate responsibility. >> well, mrs. merkel has been very clear that she wants to see some sort of progress in the fight against ebola and many thousands are still suffering from it. some sort of progress for countries like bangladesh for the rights of garment workers and the fabric production industry. she has made reference to the recent fire that claimed the lives of many hundreds of people and keen to see progress insofar as that is concerned. the rights of women entreched and supported. so you get a sense that the german hosts are looking for some sort of eman'

that the russian economy has endured, certainly hasn't been translated into any real action as far as ukraine is concerned. >> no no real action on the ground no change in the map. the map has gotten worse. not just russian-controlled areas but the parts of the border that used to be controlled by ukraine, now controlled by russia. makes it a lot easier to get russian weapons across the border and back and forth. >> jim sciutto, thanks very much. >>> i want to get to other breaking news. authorities are questioning a woman who worked at a prison in upstate new york where a pair of murderers pull off a daring escape. let's get some more now. our national correspondent jason carroll is on the scene in upstate new york. not far from the canadian border. are what is the very latest as far as this woman is concerned, jason? >> she's definitely a person of concern. this is a woman who has been questioned by authorities. she worked very closely with richard matt and david sweat, knew them very well worked with them tailoring clothes inside the prison. unclear what type of help she may have provided

. >> indeed, the russian economy that taken a big hit because of the sanction over the ukraine crisis. as far as the economic forum is concerned today did vladimir putin give pointers about russian economic recovery? >> well, what he said was that at the end of last year, people were doom saying, doom mongering about the future of the russian economy and saying that it was head of some sort of catastrophic collapse. those predictions proved unfounded, according to vladimir putin, the russian situation has stabilized. russia, he says is open for business and is ready to do business with anyone that comes to deal with russia on an equal basis of mutual respect. he did acknowledge as putin has acknowledged through most of his two terms, three terms sorry as president that deep reforms are needed within russia, to wean russia off its eeliance on exports of natural gas and oil and other such resources. in the terms putin that done very little about that, but he keeps on talking about it and he has been talking about it again. interestingly, we also heard yesterday from a former finance minister wh

ukraine has received a lot of criticism for his position so far. in february the pope described what was happening in the ukraine as fratracide and hasn't blamed russia up to now. peace is at the forefront of his agenda. what he says about president putin over ukraine undoubtedly calling for him to help build peace there. but will he try to point out to him some of the gaps in the logic that president putin has presented to the world so far? we don't know. >> that's exactly right. and delia gallagher there in rome. let's go to you. because is this, do you think, a diplomatic test of the pope to see just how far he might go in trying to influence mr. putin to enforce that cease-fire in ukraine and bring the fighting to a close? >> yes, i do, rosemary. i think this is a tricky one for pope francis. we've seen in the past that he shows great creativity when it comes to discussions with political leaders. and we might see some kind of a surprise from the pope today in his discussions with the russian president. he has a great ability to take something out of the box. we saw it in israel when he invited the israeli and palestinian presidents to come for a

as you you said, does the policy go into kiev? no. they have control and they certainly haven't lost control of their border area. is there something ukraine could get as farl with this real threat to their independence? >> if you were joking about the conversation between president obama and the imf, i was hoping that conversation would be about ukraine. because for me in the near future, the real drama in ukraine is not about closing that border which i don't think is likely. i also don't think it's about a major war with russia i don't think that's likely. what i do think is real drama is whether or not the ukranian economy can recover, whether they can succeed to the forums they pledge. that's going to be the main trouble, and in kiev that's the focus they would like to see more attention from the g7 and the rest of the world. >> and steve, why hasn't the rest of the world come to the realization that ukraine needs to survive and that their economy has been directly affected by a foreign power? >> because while people have good intentions and would love to see ukraine float away from this ukraine is right next to russia ukraine's economy is imploding.

is he's just not betting on russian strength and he is obviously pushing the envelope as far as he can in ukrainend could push it more. a number of people think in the summer he will make another effort to push it more. he's also betting on western weakness. he's betting that europe won't cohere around tougher sanctions and better in effect that the u.s. and europe won't do anything really tough if he decides to make more incursions in ukraine and he sees a lot of descent within europe because these new parties are saying we don't want a more unified europe and we certainly don't want tougher sanctions. it's hard for the european governments given the left wing right wing populous pressures against unities. >> you know about diplomacy, right? you've been a diplomat. you got this guy kerry. we need this deal by the end of june. so he breaks his leg and he has exited the talks. he's expected back in six weeks. i mean how -- is it his staff that is in there doing the ground work and things will progress? he doesn't need to be there. can he be on a conference call? i read that i was shocked. listen g

far as he can. he will continue to try to destabilize ukraine and, if possible other states that used to be part of the soviet union like moldova and georgia, but i think the counter moves you're seeing from the united states and from nato give me confidence that he won't push all the way into nato territory. that really is a red line not just for us but we're clearly communicating to him that it is a red line for him. >> so he is pushing, we're pushing back nato and the united states with that brigade's worth of heavy weaponry that jennifer griffin described. does that ratchet up the tensions or does it ensure that there will not be a hot war in that part of the world? >> well i think the message here is that the united states and the nato allies are prepared to do what is necessary to defend their allies the nato allies in eastern europe and vladimir putin better take notice of this. in that sense it attempts to ratchet the pressure down. what i'm more worried about is not the kind of deployment we're seeing by u.s. forces. what i'm worried about is this buzzing of ships and the wing tip to wing

but as you point out -- the issue of russia and ukraine has so far dominated the agenda., with president obama's bilateral meeting with the german chancellor yesterday, more than half of their discussion was devoted to the crisis in ukraine. preserving unity on sanctions on russia. this is ver ky key. the united states says sanctions have to be maintain to isolate russia to deter aggressive actions in ukraine. to keep the sanctions in place, of course, all of europe has to hold, hold fast. and make sure the sanctions stand. that is a tough job. there are countries like greece for example that have been meeting with russian officials. and there is some question whether sanctions are hurting the european economy as well as russia's. so, president obama is here to try and convince many of those in europe to stay fast with sanctions. germany key ally in that, rosemary. >> is there any sense that any really solid progress has been made in the talks just this final day now to pull it altogether. >> well, you know what we know is that so far germany for example has said that the

far with what he's been doing in ukraine. >> right. >> the sanctions against this country are really quite extensive. and he's going to lose this. >> and as we just heard the eu is extending its sanctions. that obviously won't defuse sanctions but they really haven't been so far in slowing down what russia seems to be doing in ukraine. >> well, what is going so happen over time is the average russian is going to come to understand that it's hitting them in their pocketbook. they won't have the standard of living they had hoped for. at the same time, as long as we don't show the russians that they're just a little country that we can push around, as unfortunately we did for too many years then this kind of show and tell that they're going through won't count with the russian people. and i think mr. putin will look for a way out. and at that point i think we'll be willing to help them with a way out. >> and the economy has been wounded. doesn't putin worry about history repeating itself? as rory challands pointed out the arms race was ruinous for the soviet union and russia can ill afford another one now. >> i think that's correct. i think

just by letting this war fester in eastern ukraine he hopes to achieve that objective. >> and as farresident's objective of reconnecting with angela merkel most important woman in europe or indeed in the world economy, how is that relationship going? >> well, obviously it has a rocky time in the last two years. i think it's in pretty good shape right now. driven principally by interest. you know there's lots of talk about personalities, who is whose friend but here at the core the united states and germany have a core set of interests, particularly with respect to russia. and i think the real message of this meeting was, stay the course. remember imagine two years ago, two years after the adoption of containment. if we had 24/7 newscasters including people like you and me saying is the policy working, is the policy working? it took four decades for that policy to work. i hope this one won't have to be as long but we need to stay the course and i think this meeting today was an affirmation that at least the g7 agrees with that strategy. >> ambassador michael mcfaul, thank you for bein

far as it possibly can without actually having that standing force. there are a few people in washington beginning to say that it's time to move on. russia's action ukraine have already marked a in that, but that is not a conversation they are having. brian: what is the sense in moscow on now? are people thinking were entering a new type of cold war with east-west tensions? >> the russian deputy defense minister told reporters yesterday that russia feels pushed into a new arms race by nato countries. i would suppose this is meant to rally support behind russia's strongman, vladimir putin than to really impose a threat to the united states or to western nato countries. brian: back to you to wrap it up, richard. as washington have a plan to deescalate all of this? richard: they certainly say they do. secretary of state john kerry has recently met with hooton and his counterpart just a few weeks ago and was on the phone to lavrov on monday. the two men supposedly agreeing that the minsk agreement remains as important as ever. yet of course with putin's announcement, the mood suddenly changes. the -- america is not going to want to exaggerate the importance

far as to make it illegal in russia to report war deaths. incredible. yet while i was there as if anyone needed proof two russian soldiers were captured deep inside eastern ukraine. they had killed at least one ukranian soldier and when it appeared they were about to be caught -- listen to this -- when it appeared they were about to be captured by the ukrainians they were fired upon by their own russian forces. an effort to kill them before they could be captured. these soldiers have disclosed that they are in the russian military and carried ample evidence on their persons to support the now obvious truth that russia is squarely behind perpetuating this invasion and conflict. mr. putin, if you're going to crag your country into war to perpetuate your own power you ought to at least have the honesty to tell the russian people about that war takely those families of russian soldiers most affected by this conflict. going back to the old soviet playbook of lies and disinformation is an insult to the russian families whose young men are being sent into your war. so it's clear the minsk agreement is in jeopardy, it is critical that the european union now renew its sa

. >> this is just a drop in the bucket of what ukraine would like to see as far as support. >> that'ss still no indication that the u.s. is prepared to send lethal weapons to help the ukranians against the russians. >> jim, thank you very much. good to see you. >>> meanwhile, in the middle east kurdish fighters are trying to gain a stronghold in syria. tell me about these kurdish fighters. >> it's really a good bit of news we've had in a long time with isis in that syria has taken a stronger line and they've penetrated deeply to areas just north of the self-pro claimed claimed capital of what isis claims is theirs. you see focused skpinand incredible gains by this turkish group in a short amount of time. >> and who are they allies with to be able to have this kind of success? >> they are kurdish groups and they have allies coming into turkey, but they also have syrian groups. in contrast with what we've been seeing with some of the militias inside iraq that have been failing at least the military these folks are defending territory in which they have a large population. there are 3 mi

. >> reporter: they are expected to talk about ukraine and so far the pope has been careful in his wording on this, referred to the conflict asflict between fellow christians. many ukrainians including ukrainian religious leadership see it nothing short of an invasion and they hope the pope will use similar language today when they finally meet. the italian prime minister soft pedal tensions between russia and europe over ukraine and has indicated he has nothing further to teach vladimir putin, knows where the west stands on this. the mentioned the cease-fire needs to be upheld. vladimir putin's visit to italy, russia has strong ties with italy. it is king as a way to show vladimir putin's domestic audience that while russia has been ostracized by the west there is a red carpet being rolled out in rome. in the interview ahead of this visit when asked what would be his greatest regret since taking power vladimir putin said quebec that god has instructed his life in such a way that he has no regrets. it has to be said vladimir putin, the first half of his career was an enforcer of a communist system now where is his religion on

as far sanctions are concerned, we have readjusted. you can keep your sanctions in place as long as you want. we are playing ball in ukraine. we are not want to change what we are doing in ukraine. it's not us. we are sorting things out here at home. they are not really hurting us. we are open for business. why don't you be friends with us?\ that is his message. brendan: the russian economy still based on gas and oil. it is my manufacturing economy as he would like to describe it. we have william cohen with us on the desk. did russia miss a chance? was there a time in the late 1990's and early 2000 where they can have chosen a different path? william: they could've chosen the path that poland did to make a chance for nation -- a transformation and having a market economy. a miss that chance. -- they missed that chance. what vladimir peyton putin is saying is that they will do it now. brendan: is that also a possibility? william: i was talking divorce yeldon dashboards yeldo divorce yeldon and other was not opportunity at that point to make the transportation to -- transformation to a market economy. vonnie: i want to go to

ukraine, there's a sense he may have reached too far. you can see some evidence -- i agree, most of the evidence is that the russian people as a whole are still bound up i this propaganda, and it is very clearly propaganda about what the ukrainians have done, but there is some evidence -- people's sons have died in ukraine, and that is filtering back. pimm: you mentioned energy. i want to get your thoughts on energy commodities in russia and china. sitting to vladimir putin's left was and that who had been an advisor in the past to the chinese government about business affairs. they were saying that russia and china should be great allies and fantastic partners, but there are very few chinese people in the audience. he pointed out that he was virtually alone. he said there are very few russians in china, and that is true. you go to beijing, you do not meet a lot of russians. you meet russians in nightclubs in london and you meet them owning football clubs, but not .n places like beijing also, it's a difficult relationship because russians are terrified by that border between them and china. on one side, there's millions of chinese peopl

ukraine. what would warrant an attack on russia. what do you make of that and that shift in thinking as far as the unified force against russia or against when it comes to what is beginning on in the middle east. what do you make of it? >> that attitude is unbelievable. it is such a very dangerous precedent to all of our nato althoughs that nato might not hold up their end of the bargain especially to latvia and lithuania that are feeling the aggression of putin in russia right now. >> and putin -- if i'm putin on isis i'm looking at the developments and saying hey, you know we can sit become and watch these guys just lettuce do whatever we want, right? >> absolutely. perception is reality. right now putin is not seeing any sort of consequence for his actions. he's being allowed to do whatever he wants, because he knows that nato is taking a passive stance including leading nations inside europe that are saying hey as long as we're not the ones being attacked and we're not ones feeling pressure of russia right now we're going to let countries fend for themselves, and so putin is taking full advantage of that over the last year. >> incre

ryan: so far, all of the talks when it comes to ukraine that the russian president has participated in have involved the german chancellor and the president of france. what we have not seen asnt obama at the table. do you think that that would help the peace process in ukraine? minister lavrov: the americans at the negotiating table? ryan: correct. minister lavrov: we discussed this with john kerry. i believe john kerry and his team understand that the process is very fragile. the group, the subgroups in the four areas. normandy format. if each and every participant of the group and the normandy format is in favor of changing this, we would not object. but i believe the americans understand that it is so fragile that any newcomer could -- ryan: derail the process. minister lavrov: un dallas this process. we agree -- unbalance this process. they have huge influence on the authorities in kiev. we agree to keep a bilateral channel between moscow and washington to exchange views and see we both can influence the parties on the ground in the direction of full and copper has its implementation of the mi nsk agreement. ryan: let me ask you about fifa. the russian president has sai

unable and unwilling to respond as we did little in ukraine and did little in terms of taking military actions in syria. i think he is trying to push the envelope to see how farunching above his weight? he's got big economic problems and i think that message will be the single or one that he is trying to give. brendan: my economy is coming back, time for you to get back in business. tom: oil will save the day. brendan: there are a lot of countries hoping oil will save the day. you were secretary of defense in 1997 -- 1987 when russia signed an agreement with no heavy troops east of germany. that was a different russia, a different world. is that the agreement worth anything now? is it even worth remembering? >> as far as europeans are concerned, we have not been provocative to russia in that sense. we have encouraged countries who are capable of joining nato but i don't think we are in the position to try and provoke president putin. he sees it as provocation but i think his actions in both jordan -- tom: i want to go to st. petersburg. let me ask the heartfelt question -- was bill clinton ever on time for a meeting? william cowan he was really on-time but he

that heather conley referred to as ukraine as democratic, well, if you are following their news and everything that is happening in that country, you realize that they are farfrom it. host: katerina, i want to and at that point and have heather conley jump in because what is going on inside the ukraine and you can government? here is a headline, visiting ukraine leaders aim at kunz -- guest: in 2004 this -- the so-called revolution which pushed out popular pushing not of the government and pro-western government, but you know that government failed to make the necessary reforms which in some ways brought the former president tenneco bridge to power and cost the second revolution which was the year of my don -- the second revolution in the beginning of 2014. he was forced to make a choice -- would ukraine have to come within russia's economic union or could ukraine joined the european union trade agreement? he was under enormous pressure by the kremlin and decided that he would turn his country toward russia. ukrainian people were not supportive of that and they had a popular uprising. the president fled, a new government was collected and a new parliament h