kieve kiev of course wants better terms for itself and moscow is going to hold firm and so foreign policy analysts that are speaking in moscow are following on twitter today a lot of them are saying well you know this prisoners swap is all well and good but what i can expect in 2020 is a frozen conflict not an actual end to the war so this is hopeful for the new year but we'll have to see in the new year what i think what actually happens with the war even. thank you. well straight day is bracing for another week off bushfires as temperatures are expected to soul emergency services have been trying to contain the blaze a since september 8th people have died 2 of them firefighters many of those on the front lines all volunteers and now the australian government says it will pay them for their efforts. it's one of australia's worst bushfire season is over. with so many blazes to battle it's often volunteers who answer the call for help. giving their time and paying the costs just like. 1516 hour shifts in a row you're exhausted at the end of that you might have one day break and then they w

. >> to paraphrase biggie smalls he's going going back back to kiev kiev. >> rudy giuliani is pulling off. getting donald trump impeached. >> the house will do what many thought it was on its way to do impeach president trump starting now. >> i'm asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment. >> lawless president has taken advantage of the public trust. >> committing high crimes and misdemeanors. >> you absolutely have a constitution that provides for a quick remedy for that. >> president trump is out nicks okayen nixon. >> extraordinary breach of the powers of the presidency. >> it is a vote that actually changes everything. >> the trial of donald j. trump is the first impeachment trial in generations and there are civics lessons here. chief justice john roberts will preside and other key calls are wide open because when you understand the rules, you understand they can change any time. i'm joined now by judge tim lewis, appointed to the federal bench by george h.w. bush and former senator byron dorgan. he served curing the clinton impeachment trial and voted not guilty

watch giuliani go back to ukraine and kiev, i'm reminded of another new york poed, the late, great, notorious b.i. good. who said go, going back, back to kiev, kievn this instance. this article looks add giuliani as a new york figure. the reality is this is the same tower of truckulence giuliani has always been. a kiss-up, kick-down type of guy. >> that's basically it. he enjoyed a good period after the september 11th, 2001, terror attack. his m.o. has always been to cast tho them as morally deficient somehow. and can i say this business where he's saying to the president year finding more than you can imagine is very trumpy. when trump was going oofr obama on his nonsense about obama not having been born in the united states, he supposedly-investigators out to find obama's true orjjs. he said you can't believe what they're finding. nobody sensibly believes they found anything. and so now suddenly we're hearing almost the exact same language. more than you can imagine. i don't believe it. and as far as the history, there's some terrible thing he did to people. there was a fellow coming out of the bar in midtown, manhattan. and a crew of undercove

officials from the state department went out to kiev to ensure kiev that the u.s. stands firmly behind them. before we run out of time to me ask you about. this could be one of her final opportunities to mediate to be a peace maker did you get that sense from where you're sitting or would you say that since president may be standing in her way you a bit. well i think both mccrone and merkel are critical to these negotiations but there are different timelines we know that politically the chancellor's timeline in her capacity is shorter and it certainly mr mccrone over the last several weeks has made considerable headlines in terms of his positions views of nato and president trump i think the most important thing right now is that those 2 leaders are focused on the business at hand understanding who's across the table from them which is mr putin and supporting ukraine and i expect that that will continue there are no signals that both paris or berlin are breaking from ukraine same here in washington. all right jonathan katz with the u.s. german marshall fund thank y

kiev as a symbol of moscow's control over the peninsula and the united states and european union consider it a violation of ukraine's sovereignty and impose sanctions on companies involved in its construction moscow and kiev as relations have worsened since russia annexed crimea in 2014 the peninsula had only been accessible from mainland ukraine until the bridge was opened last year now marked by president vladimir putin he drove through it on a truck now trains are starting to cross running from st petersburg to crime is largest cities the best of all but on tuesday from moscow to the capital simferopol . russia and ukraine have recently taken some steps to ease those tensions they've agreed to implement a cease fire in eastern ukraine by the end of this year now that deal was reached in paris this month when russian and ukrainian presidents met for the 1st time almost 2 months earlier ukraine's president of la them is alinsky agreed to elections in separatist held parts of the dumbass region and in september russia and ukraine each exchanged $35.00 prisoners ukrainian government troops and russian backed separatists also withdrew from key frontline areas in eastern ukraine over several months. well let's bring in our guest for this edition of inside story well joining me from moscow is victor all of which the lead analyst at the think tank center the actual politics ilya bottom of it is the c.e.o. of trident acquisitions which focuses on investment in oil and gas in eastern europe he's also a former member of russia's parliament and the only member to vote against the annexation of crimea in 2014 he joins us from kiev via skype darrent deal is principal russia analyst at the global risk consultancy make or crossed he joins us now from london gentlemen welcome to this edition of inside story ilya part amount of in the caravan to start with you i mean how significant is this in terms of a milestone in the fractious relationship between ukraine and russia that this bridge has finally been built and is it operation well to my mind there's just a lot was. the main. it's already happened when it was a cartridge last year and since that time our training is already linked to mainland russia which of course it's extreme the symbolic because this breach became the largest infrastructure project on the country from. some fortune to the sun at the expense of russian taxpayers for example where i mean. i can see. they canceled the construction of the bridge across the or by now because the actual breach across france cultural strait is one crimea. other regional fresh in your future they consult a lot of the r

kiev airport for us where the french ukrainian prisoners are due to arrive soon david what more do you know at this time. on the tarmac at kiev's bartie small airport right now with a mass of ukrainian and journalists from kiev waiting what we're told is the imminent arrival of the prisoners in the people that have been held we don't know when they're going to arrive we're told that it could happen any time soon but out of course remains to be seen we've been told or there is been reported that more than 70 people were handed over to ukrainian authorities and have now come to the government controlled territory on the other hand the ukrainian officials handed over over 120 prisoners to the moscow back separatists and as you said you'd seen on this happened a little bit earlier in. in the day but right now we're waiting to see what when they arrive and what their. how they will be received. and how of ukrainians been responding to this deal is this being seen as a success for president selenski. well these prisoner exchanges are always met with a great deal of fan for fair hope and in fact a great deal of happiness on this one also was coming by some controversy as you heard they released the 5 there cooch as

kiev of course one way that kiev has reacted is to get closer to the e.u. in various forms and on various agreements militarily it does want to get close it's even eyeing up potential membership of nato that worries russia potential membership of the e.u. that worries russia which direction do you think you have is going to go in then with regard to if they can't find a solution with russia they'll find a better partnership with europe and other allies but i think the 3rd. situation the crimea was likely to be across all. roles all occupational like it was a show of the baltics it so. we under soviet union. for what like 40 or more years. the west. worked with the so you have relations with the soviet comic ties with the soviet union but when the soviet union and began to collapse they. were introduced to the european union. and i think with the crimea more or less. the same to patients we have low budget. it's russian territory but everybody would return. get about it for a while the 2nd which is way more important at the moment we're in eastern ukraine where people are dying every single day and that's where your focus is right now that's where the focus from european leaders european union is united states is and the focus of ukraine. i think that's where we find the new media. solution in the meanwhile while 'd. ordinary craniums they would have been. there like. the better than it is right now with. a debate yet again for another day with people from crimea victor all of it in moscow i mean you had our guest in kiev and of course there is obviously 2 sides to this of course from russia's point of view you know as they see ukraine getting closer to the e.u. or certainly more friendly russia has been thrown out of the g 8 it's had its diplomats removed for example from the united kingdom after the poisoning and the accusation that they were behind the poisoning of a former russian agent 2nd ice cripple i mean this sort of schism between russia's relations with. europe is something that doesn't sit well with moscow they would like to be friendly but they car because of the dynamics of their internal politics especially when it comes to crimea who would like to meet putin like to be back in the g. 8 would he like to have better relations with the e.u. or is he actually quite happy with the way things are right now. well the kremlin would like to have a better relationship with the european union a much better relationship with europe in fact if you look back. in serious 2 years in office he had tried

kiev of course one way that kiev has reacted is to get closer to the e.u. in various forms and on various agreements militarily it does want to get close it's even eyeing up potential membership of nato that worries russia potential membership of the e.u. that worries russia which direction do you think kiev is going to go in then with regard to if they can't find a solution with russia they'll find a better partnership with europe and other allies but i think that serves the route or situation the crimea or likely to be across all. roles all occupational like it was a show of the baltics it so. we are soviet union. for what like 40 or more years. the west. worked with the so you have relations with the soviet. comic ties with the soviet union but when the soviet union and began to collapse 'd. they. were introduced to the europe. and i think with the crimea more or less. the same to patients we have low budget. it's russian territory but everybody would return to get about and for a while the 2nd which is way more important at the moment we're in eastern ukraine where people are dying every single day and that's where your focus is right now that's where the focus from european leaders european union is united states is and the focus of ukraine. i think that's where we find the new media

kiev is our lexi her professor of comparative politics at kiev more here our cademy in moscow victor only of each lead analyst at the moscow based think tank center for actual politics and also on skype from young gone in myanmar anna mcvey of are a member of the eurasia and russia research group at king's college london and welcome to you all let me start in kiev with a ski hire on these talks that will be taking place in paris see see them as a positive step forward and what would you say ukraine is wanting from these talks . well i think it's positive because previously for more than 2 years mr putin didn't want to have any thoughts with former president so this time was there were some steps that zones a ground so basic i sings there could be a progress a progress could be the guiding disengagement of troops in certain areas and exchange of prisoners if it happens it will be but it's a question is what concessions will mr putin demand from ukrainian side because we need to understand very clearly is that for putin what is important it's not done bus it's the whole ukraine putin would like to use fluency crane and to have control or we create so it was a question is what he will try to to push forward and if we are talking about further political measures each should be taking when it does in the stands that what it was a lot of means good p

valentino with us now professor of political science at the national university of kiev a more the academy on skype from kiev thank you for your time is is president selenski giving away too much the pictures we see today are obviously good from exchanges things happening actual developments but is he as i outlined there possibly giving away too much. it's implementation of presidential promises in promising during the election campaign most of the people want to have peace in the east of ukraine into a stop gel political conflict so president has to implement his promises and it's also part of the decisions of normandy forward to meeting of leaders of france germany russia and ukraine so the president does what was decided at the meeting and what is expected by his electorate definitely there are political forces in ukraine who are not interested in easing of the situation not in deescalation they want to continue fighting until the victory of ukraine which is definitely in the physician but it's maybe profitable for several political forces the extreme radicals and also for those who are political opponent

kiev it seems hasn't been keen to do at all however for the government in kiev the element that is absolutely essential is the one that is supposed to lead to the full handover of the control of the border between russia and the breakaway republics of lugansk and that he had a lot of our approaches and did remind everyone that when it comes to the minsk accord to control over the border does come after the political section by. the music use of listening read the minsk accords they say ukraine will begin to establish control over the russia don't bust border the day after elections are held in the region that is what the documents see why undermine the agreements and rewrite their contents if we alter one article then the others are likely to be altered as well and will ultimately lose everything i do have to say that there have been concerns that the government of the legs he won't be able to fulfill their part of the agreement to at all in the near future because of the pressure that's been mounting on him domestic only the anti russian pro-war lobby is still very strong and any baby steps that selenski could potentially make towards russia could lead to some serious political damage for him at a whole common conclusions being made by the normandy quartet to say that the russian and ukrainian sides will remain interested. in trying to find ways to somehow reach a compromise when it comes to these most difficult elements of the minsk agreement that i mentioned and also most importantly there will be another summit of the normandy quartet in 4 months so the contacts on the most high profile level between berlin paris kiev and moscow will continue. time for reaction and analysis on that base on the story can have top side dot com still to come off the break russia's top diplomat just touched down in washington d.c. ways expected to hold talks with president trump the break we'll look at what topics are likely to dominate that meeting today with us. to globalization be dollars a share you know that's happening as the world is kind of drifting apart in a lot of different lawyers we look into it because there's an economic force behind it is always. someone else chose seems wrong. when old rules just don't hold. any new world yet to shape out these days become active. and engaged with equals betrayal. when so many find themselves worlds apart we choose to look for common ground. join me every thursday on the all excitement show and i'll be speaking to us in the world of politics or business i'm sure business i'll see you there. if. you're watching r.t. international welcome back we have some news that just

kiev it seems hasn't been keen to do at all however for of the government in kiev the element that is absolutely essential is the one that is supposed to lead to the full handover of the control of the border between russia and the breakaway republics of lugansk and that he had skipped a lot of our approaches and did remind everyone that when it comes to the minsk accord the control over the border does come after the political section by. the music's of launching read the minsk accords they say ukraine will begin to establish control over the russia don't bust border the day after elections are held in the region that is what the documents see why undermine the agreements and rewrite their contents if we alter one article then the others are likely to be altered as well and will ultimately lose everything. i do have to say that there have been concerns that the government of the legs d won't be able to fulfill their part of the agreement to at all in the near future because of the pressure that's been mounting on him domestic only the anti russian pro-war lobby is still very strong and any baby steps that selenski could potentially make towards russia could lead to some serious political damage for him at a whole common conclusions being made by the normandy quartet that say that the russian and ukrainian sides will remain interested. in trying to find ways to somehow reach a compromise when it comes to these most difficult elements of the minsk agreement that i mentioned and also most importantly there will be another summit of the normandy quartet in 4 months so the contacts on the most high profile level between berlin paris kiev and moscow will continue. and if you're looking for more insight on the story you can head to our website r.t. dot com for the relevant analysis opinions and all the updates on the normandy 4 summit still to come russia's top diplomat just touched down in washington d.c. wait expected to hold talks with president trump after the break we'll look at what topics from likely to dominate that meeting today with us. so what we've got to do is identify the threats that we have it's crazy. let it be an arms race is on us and spearing dramatic development is only really i'm going to resist i don't see how that strategy will be successful very critical time time to sit down and talk. you know world of big partisan lot and conspiracies it's time to wake up to dig deeper to hit the stories that mainstream media refuses to tell more than ever we need to be smarter we need to stop slamming the door. and shouting past each other it's time for critical thinking it's time to fight for the middle for

kiev it seems hasn't been keen to do seem at all however for of the government in kiev the element that is absolutely essential is the one that is supposed to lead to the full handover of the control of the border between russia and the breakaway republics of lugansk and that he had skipped a lot of our approaches and did remind everyone that when it comes to the minsk accord the control over the border does come after the political section by. the music's of launching read the minsk accords they say ukraine will begin to establish control over the russians on bus border the day after elections are held in the region and that is what the documents use and why undermine the grievance and rewrite their content cd if we alter one article then the others are likely to be altered as well and will ultimately. i do have to say that there have been concerns that the government of the legs won't be able to fulfill their part of the agreement at all in the near future because of the pressure that's been mounting on him domestic only the anti russian pro-war lobby is still very strong and any baby steps that selenski could potentially make towards russia could lead to some serious political damage for him as a whole common conclusions being made by the normandy quartet that say that the russian and ukrainian sides will remain interested. in trying to find ways to somehow reach a compromise when it comes to these most difficult elements of the minsk agreement that i mention and also most importantly there will be another summit of the normandy quartet you move in 4 months so the contacts on the most high profile level between berlin paris kiev and moscow will continue. on for reaction analysis and updates on this story you can head to our website dot com. still to come russia's top diplomat has touched down in washington d.c. where is expected to hold talks with president trump after the break we'll look at what topics are likely to dominate led me to. join me every thursday on the alex simon sure and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm show business i'll see you then. welcome back bob writes in germany has a feminist version of the classic tale snow white and the adaptation has a surprise twist. tales give you the chance to teach kids about important values and i think diversity is simply not addressed. to such an important concepts you want your children to grow value. well it's not the 1st time a classic tells been given a modern make overs in a new version of aladdin released this year princess jasmine has high aspirations to become sometime in the original she just wanted to find her

kiev where 76 men and women released by russian backed separatists in the country's east now in return ukrainian government releases all of its presenters will go to kiev for the latest also on the show. a gunman opens fire at a church in the u.s. state of texas killing 2 parishioners but churchgoers a mediately return fire and shoot him dead. also in this program the year 2019 in sports from triumphant football stars to a comeback on the green we take a look back at some of the year's top sporting moments. i'm brian thomas great to have you with us back with family and friends ukrainian and russian back separatists prisoners were reunited with their loved ones after a major exchange between the 2 sides now among those released captives who had been in detention since fighting broke out in 2014 the swap follows an agreement between russia and ukraine that was brokered by berlin and paris. home for the new year dozens of joyful reunions played out on the key of f. . ports tama many of the captives hadn't same friends or family for years on hand a visibly moved president florida ms a lenski he great to the exchange during talks with russia's vladimir putin earlier this month. as we deliver on our promises to each so these people will celebrate new year with their loved ones with their parents and children at home just each night. and this is the moment prisoners were frayed earlier on sunday russian back separatists late ukrainian prisoners go at a checkpoint in the country's aist the men were lined up to be collected by the red cross for some it was a chance to voice their anger over their treatment here you know i spent 5 years in a basement how can this happen in the 21st century in a european country where for example they are. heading home to dozens of separatists many of them have also faced harsh conditions in captivity in this conflict volunteer militias have often ignored the rules of war conditions in captivity and the tourists n.g.o.s say the ukrainian government too has violated the tinies rights. were shooting up with they tortured me 5 times in jail on a good movie i did my they said he's dead take away his body but i survived despite. many of those have been released for the new year will bring horrifying stories with them. but whatever they've enjoyed now is still a moment to celebrate. for the families and others in a war torn country. for more let's bring indeed abuse david stern joining us from kiev good day to you david is this prisoner exchange a step towards a more comprehensive peace deal between ukraine and it's a russian backed separatists well very emotional scenes yesterday as we just saw in the report in fact we were at the airport when the prisoners were turned in there were lots of cheers and and enjoy at the same time but indeed the main question is will this can contribute now to a full out peace that the hope is that this is obviously a positive step any type of prisoner exchange like this is greeted here in ukraine but then there has to be built upon president selenski met with his russian counterpart. hootin in paris earlier this month. the talks did not provide the breakthrough but it did they did agree on this prisoner exchange and now the question is what are they going to do to move beyond this whether they can actually bring a cease fire a full cease fire to the east because fighting as we've heard it continues and then eventually can there be a full out agre

kiev for 76 men and women released by russian backed separatists in the east of the country in return ukrainian government releasing all of its prisoners we'll go live to kiev for the very latest also coming up. a gunman opens fire at a church in the u.s. state of texas killing 2 parishioners but churchgoers return fire and shoot him dead. i'm brian thomas great to have you with us. well back with family and friends ukrainian and russian backed separatists prisoners were reunited with their loved ones after a major exchange between the 2 sides among those released captives who had been in the tension since hostilities broke out in 2014 now the swap follows an agreement between russia and ukraine brokered by germany and france. home for the new year dozens of joy for unions played out on the kiev airports tama many of the captives hadn't same friends or family for years on hand i visibly moved president flawed to me is the lenski he great to the exchange during talks with russia's vladimir putin earlier this month. as we deliver on our promises so these people will celebrate new year with their loved ones with their parents and children at home just each night. and this is the moment prisoners were frayed earlier on sunday russian backed separatists late ukrainian prisoners go at a checkpoint in the country's aist the men were lined up to be collected by the red cross for some it was a chance to voice that anger over their treatment here you know i spent 5 years in a basement how can this happen in the 21st century in a european country or for example there are. heading home to dozens of separatists many of them have also faced hosh conditions in captivity. in this conflict volunteer militias have often ignored the rules of war conditions in captivity and the tourists n.g.o.s

kiev to start the investigation intojoe biden and his son, and that if kiev did not do that the accusation from the democrats is that the president was going to withhold military aid. in the impeachment process there was a lot of compelling evidence this kind of thing was going on but now we have this e—mail obtained by a freedom of information request which shows that just 91 freedom of information request which shows thatjust 91 minutes, just an hour and shows thatjust 91 minutes, just an hourand a shows thatjust 91 minutes, just an hour and a half or so, after a conversation between donald trump and his ukrainian counterpart, where he suggested that they should essentially do him a favour and start this investigation, that there was this e—mail from a white house official to the pentagon, to the department of defence, that this aid had to be stopped from being handed over to kiev quiet. the suggestion being that it was going on in suggestion being that it was going onina suggestion being that it was going on in a very direct way and in a very direct way linked to the president, but what officials have said, white house officials, is that actually this was just part of a strategy of reviewing its aid to ukraine and had nothing to do with this phone call that happened an hour and this phone call that happened an hourand a this phone call that happened an hour and a half earlier but that is not something a lot of people accept. it is for many democrats more compelling evidence to go along with all of that that has already been heard in these hearings to say that donald trump did do something very wrong. aleem, when it comes to evidence why are they democrats with holding those articles to the senate? what are they concerned about when it comes to evidence and witnesses? yeah, as we know, donald trump has been formally impeached 110w trump has been formally impeac

60 people have been moved from kiev to the territories of the denotes going to guns people's republic and in turn some more than 50 people apparently were sent back to kiev now this whole process has been going on not without its said backs for instance we do know that at least 2 prisoners 2 people held prisoner on the territories of these breakaway republics in ukraine have refused to go back to clear for well one reason or another now this whole swap i should mention has been has become possible only because of the latest round of the normandy forward talks that's when vladimir putin the russian president for the 1st time met with the ukrainian president vladimir zelinsky and also present with angela merkel the german chancellor and the french president emmanuel mccrone now so they this round of this prisoner swap i should say is the direct result of those talks not everyone is happy to see this happen for instance yesterday on saturday there was a court hearing on the fate of 5 former burkhard fighters in the lead police unit that was taking part in dispersing protests during the my done uprising a lot of people in ukraine with the more radical stance

maintain gas transit between moscow and kiev for the next 5 years though so states that russia will pay almost $3000000.00 to settle a long running dispute in return kiev will drop legal actions against moscow former u.s. diplomat jim generous and number of germany's the left party john thomas ollie believe america's approach is souring relations with europe when they say oh this will cover in ukraine out of the transit they will they will get less money but really think they care about ukraine they will carry by ukraine a lot and the only reason they would be concerned about rue you brain being cut out of any trance it seems is that if that would be make it more difficult to put pressure on russia by having a puppet ukrainian hand on the longest speak it with regard to europe's a gash you know that is no longer the case and all we're really talking about is ukraine being included in a more cooperative relationship between europe and russia that's the worst possible outcome from the point of view of people in washington damage to the german american relations is down and. the idea that america is consciously imposing extra charity extraterritorial sanc

welcome in the capital kiev for 76 men and women released by russian backed separatists in the country's east in return for ukrainian government polices all of his friends urse will go to kiev for the latest also on the show.

the capital kiev for those 76 men and women released by separatists in the country's east in return ukrainian government released all the prisoners that it had been holding will go to kiev for the latest also coming up. a gunman opens fire in a church in the u.s. state of texas killing one parishioner churchgoers return fire and killing.

kiev and russian backed separate s. has killed more than 14000 people in 5 years. moscow. a little bit where you know this is the ukraine capital kiev if just one day before the paris meeting and it shows depression president followed is facing while many ukrainians want an end to what is described as europe's forgotten war these protests us accuse him of surrendering to russian president vladimir putin. zelinsky was elected in may on his promise to end the war that began in 2014 when russian backed separatists occupied cities in the east of ukraine i it's not only cost thousands of lives. but also destroyed large parts of the country taking a huge toll on the economy. in 2016 peace talks stalled with both ukraine and russia accusing each other of fire agreements but after becoming presidents alinsky broke the stalemate by if we need to have elections in russian backed territories and allowing them a special status both nations exchange prisoners and some troops will withdraw all conditions are in place for return to the negotiating table but expectations for a major breakthrough are low yeah almost daily ceasefire violations and there's little trust between the 2 flights but i must say the fact that the talks are happening since yesterday but it's looking for a positive outcome. and that's perhaps because another part of ukraine is not up for negotiations in paris crimea which was annexed by russia 5 years ago. we took crimea and the worst will just accept this because they're interested to go back to business as usual. the main outcome of the normal talks for putin is the fact that he is welcome again in europe's power circles this is exactly what these protesters in kiev fear most that european leaders are tired of the war and sanctions against russia it's good for selenski to accept major compromises for example in the timing of the elections in the territories at the center of the conflict selenski insists they can only be health after the troops have pulled out but russia does not agree that facet of al-jazeera moscow. still ahead on al-jazeera. full of foreigners protesting her song thousands take aim at colombia's government plus. he's never coming back never. want to lose. the same for a while to the sesame street puppets here who brought children's favorites big bird and oscar the grouch to life. work in the east was through much of iran since no to the high levels as well what a banker can see the on at the satellites as we go through monday the washouts coming in behind that system working their way through the eastern end of the mediterranean pushing across into syria becoming more widespread on that choose day and sunny plenty of cloud on t

kiev and russian backed separatists has killed more than 14000 people in 5 years that last has more from moscow. the river you know this is the ukraine capital kiev just one day before the paris meeting and it shows the pressure president followed emirs alinsky is facing while many ukrainians wonder an end to what is described as europe's forgotten war these protesters accuse him of surrendering to russian president vladimir putin. zelinsky was elected in may on his promise to end the war that began in 2014 when russian backed separatists occupied cities from the stuff you crane. it's not only cost thousands of lives. but also destroyed large parts of the country taking a huge toll on the economy. in 2016 peace talks stalled with both ukraine and russia accusing each other of fire agreements but after becoming presidents alinsky broke the stalemate is agreed to have elections in russian backed territories and allowing them a special status both nations exchange prisoners and some troops were withdrawn all conditions are in place for a return to the negotiating table but expectations for a major breakthrough are low yeah only they need cease fire violations and there's little trust between the 2 flights but palace say the fact that the talks are happening since yes but it's looking for a positive outcome. and that's perhaps because another part of ukraine is not up for negotiations in paris crimea which was annexed by russia 5 years ago. we took crimea and the worst will just accept this. because they're interested to go back to business as usual. i mean out of the normal to talk for putin is the fact that he's welcome again in europe's power circles this is exactly what these protesters in kiev fear most that european leaders are tired of the whore and sanctions against russia could force alinsky to accept a manger compromise to screen for example in the timing of the elections in the territories at the center of the conflict selenski insists they can only be health after the troops have pulled out but russia does not agree that facet of al-jazeera moscow. time for a short break here not as iraq when we come back the. protesting through song south take aim at columbia's government. and the 1st case of polio in malaysia in more than 25 years what it means for global eradication is more. hello there it is still are fairly quiet picture across much of china it is quiet and it is common temperatures are not too bad either we've got some good clear skies and so with those clear skies some nice amounts of sunshine 20 celsius in hong kong on monday a pleasant $22.00 across into northern vietnam hanoi at $22.16 celsius aap into shanghai it's a dry couple of days for the most part as

as i watch giuliani go back to ukraine and kiev i'm reminded of another new york poet, the late great notorious b.i.g. who said going, going back back to kiev to read this article that looks at giuliani as a new york figure. this is the same tower of truculence giuliani has always been a kiss up kick down kind of guy described as a small man in search of a balcony. >> that's basically it. nothing has really changed, and he enjoyed a good period right after the september 11, 2001 terror attack. but in truth his m.o. has always been to throw dirt on opponents to cast them as morally deficient somehow, not outright corrupt and evil. and can i say this business he's saying to the president we're finding more than you can imagine, is very, very trumpian. you may remember when trump was going after obama with this nonsense obama not being born in the united states he supposedly had investigators out all over the world to find obama's true origins and he said they can't believe what they're finding. no one sensibly believes they found anything or even these investigators existed. now we're hearing the exact same language, more than you can imagine

kiev because at that point of the court essentially released at least 5 people former members of the special police force barracuda who 2 parts in who took part in while countering the protests in kiev during the my down uprising all those those 5 people are reportedly part of the swap as well and if true they have already been moved to the to the territories of denounce can look on screen public so again more details still to come as for how many people have been swapped and whether or not. more tensions in iraq also it has to be said that this is the exact result of the normandy for talks when vladimir putin for the 1st time met with the lenski the ukrainian president went together of course with angela merkel and the french president emmanuel mccrone so this warp is a direct result of those talks r.t. as it goes down of them to for bringing us the latest on that. that's our breakdown of just some of the biggest headlines from the past week and today's news for more on those stories and the latest at our website r.t. dot com. today there are good terrorists and bad at it it's the bad news in yemen the united states deems to be a threat the good those word in syria the cia and the