steve, sergei lavrov, of the russian foreign minister, he arrived in damascus. we just heard from paul wood that the violence is still ongoing. he is taking a political risk because he could come away empty -- empty-handed. >> yes. and i have to say expectations are very low. the russian delegation may have been greeted as heroes upon arrival at damascus, but the arrival is easy. the difficult it is talking. moscow says it wants to secure a rapid stabilization of the situation in syria, but no detail how he is going to do that. we know sergei lavrov has brought with him a letter from president medvedev to president al-assad. we do not know what the contents are but the russians will hope these talks some can lead to a normalization of this. -- normalization of syria. >> a carrot, if you like. do they have a stick that they can wave to damascus? >> russia believes it has a degree of influence on syria. relations have been pretty good and there was some speculation ahead of sergei lavrov's visit that the russian foreign minister may attend to persuade president as

government there has failed to end the bloodshed that decisions were made just as foreign minister lavrov was visiting damascus gulf nations also said they were expelling syrian army boys from their countries as a protest against the regime the u.k. also recalled its ambassador from damascus monday and the u.s. closed its embassy there for more insight on all this we're joined by omar walk half a member of the syrian social club in london so first of all as a syrian what's your view of russia's diplomatic efforts to settle the conflict in your country. well basically the diplomatic efforts you know. put into two segments a the segment who wants to be proactive who wants to find a solution to the segment who is interested only in regime change now what we have called for from the very beginning is that you know the regime or the syrian government is strong by the way president assad still commands a comfortable majority in syria according to a recent opinion poll by conducted by hugo fifty five percent of syria said they did not want him to go now faced with that fact you cannot force a wh

present i said will not to make this stop there is a minister lavrov and i repeat said that there are several groups using the violence in syria hands moving one a group will not help but the only solution forward is to actually sit on a table and discuss the democratic reforms or a doctor or a shabby lecturer professor at the lebanese american university of beirut thanks for your insight. stay with us here on r.t. still ahead this hour a whistleblower is nominated for the nobel peace prize a u.s. soldier accused of releasing secret files to weeki leaks now want to list of candidates for the prestigious award. and there's a brief it appears in court sharing shocking comments as survivors look on in disbelief. but first with less than a month to go before russia's presidential vote emotions are running high and the camps are running into high gear following a day of demonstrations in russia a prime minister and presidential candidate glad to hear putin continues laying out his electoral program this time it's more about web shaped democracy with the initiate is allowing people to sugge

that the sitting by china and russia to veto the recent un resolution on syria from moscow sergey lavrov saying that russia had asked the u.n. security council to delay the vote for several days in order to allow mr leavitt off to complete his trip to damascus now they were that request were turned down by the u.n. security council so he left off heading to damascus on tuesday bearing with him a message from president commute premed get every message that's believed to request the assad government make strong democratic changes in the country now the foreign ministry very unhappy about this the russian government very unhappy in fact going as far as to call it disrespectful to allow the not allow the vote to be delayed until. a level of completed that trip now. with regards to the comments that have been made from around the world following that the session by china and russia to veto the u.n. resolution with condemnation from the united states from france from great britain the foreign secretary in great britain going as far as to say that this meant there was blood on the hands of thos

lavrov has in mind for his visit. clearly the russians on a different track from the rest of us. it's been difficult to talk with them. gives regular attention and britain contributed to icrc helping with funds for people who have been displaced. of course he's ready to work with other countries on any further developments in that regard. the russian general correctly praised the police, metropolitan police involved in protecting the syrian embassy. there are regular meetings. there's a monthly review meeting between the home office and foreign office on the protection of all embassies. well laid contingency plans in the case of the syrian embassy. those, of course, put into operation this weekend. there were about 150 protesters there on saturday, three of him by climbing up scaffolding managed to enter a first floor window of the syrian embassy. the police presence there was further reinforced. that presence has continued. it will be reviewed today. i think they did a very gooding normal channels are working well between the foreign office and home office. he asked for an asses

said minister describe the criticism by some western countries of the russia china veto certainly lavrov was speaking ahead of his upcoming visit to damascus where he's scheduled to meet with syrian authorities tuesday or he's peter all over house for. this was continuing on from that decision by china and russia to veto the recent un resolution on syria from moscow sergey lavrov saying that russia had asked the u.n. security council to delay the vote for several days in order to allow mr lovett off to complete his trip to damascus now they were that request were turned down by the u.n. security council so he left off heading to damascus on tuesday bearing with him a message from president dmitry medvedev a message that's believed to request the assad government make strong democratic changes in the country now the foreign ministry very unhappy about this the russian government very unhappy in fact going as far as to call it disrespectful to allow the not allow the vote to be delayed until. it completed that trip now. with regards to the comments that have been made from around the world

russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov and the head of the foreign intelligence service meet helfer of course have met with president assad and with syrian political elite and according to the foreign minister president assad says that he is ready for dialogue with the opposition with russia being the mediator now this stephen was me to right after the meeting in damascus earlier on tuesday by russia's foreign minister and we've already had a reaction from the syrian opposition specifically from a senior member of the syrian national council george summer who says that russia has strong enough time as would the syrian people and it's being the mediator actually may be quite effective still quite a positive reply there now the foreign minister sergei lavrov has also stressed once again that both sides of this conflict must put their weapons down immediately when our approach is based on a clear and simple goal to stop civilian deaths the region needs peace syria needs peace it is clear that efforts to end the violence need to go along with the start of a meaningful dialogue between a

the government has failed to end the bloodshed that decisions were made just as foreign minister lavrov who was visiting damascus gulf nations also said they were expelling syrian envoys from their countries as a protest against the regime the u.k. also recalled its ambassador from damascus monday and the u.s. has closed its embassy there discuss these latest developments in syria i'm joined live from london myself president of the arab lawyers association so some easy when gulf states have recalled their ambassadors from syria what message do you think that sends to the international community coming at this time when russia is stepping up its diplomatic efforts in the country this is very clearly an attempt by the west to thwart any settlement because i don't think the western powers whether it's the u.k. u.s. france or the europeans and certainly the countries the gulf countries really playing according to the rules that are being laid down to them by the americans they are the people who are trying to any possibility we've seen this before in the end you rather. than go position and

foreign minister lavrov i was saying before that moscow was asking the u.n. security council to wait a little bit to give just a few days of time so that it could be a level of could come here to moscow says deliver this message to syrian president and while that did not happen the gold ended up. being being conducted on saturday so russia and china you know that. well the foreign ministry in moscow says that. if you create the u.n. security council just washed. and possibly even things out for you perhaps you know . could have been different if you waited just for. you a few more days so we're going to see how this meeting is going to be you know that and of course we'll be waiting for its outcome all right you go we know you've just arrived we'll let you go hopefully you'll have a little more details for us when we speak to you later today about more specifically the situation on the ground there and of course what is happening in those talks between sergey lavrov his delegation and the syrian authorities thanks for that update. but moscow continues to rece

lavrov, point out to him the statement to be put out by the opposition syrian national council today? and which the accused russia and china, and i quote these words, responsible for the escalating act of killing, and then went on to say that the use that of the security council is come to use their words, tantamount to the license to kill with impunity. will not rush of very very heavy responsibility if syria now descends into bloody and protracted civil war? >> i agree with my right honorable friend, and that is why i have very strong language of my own and in a statement today. these vetoes are a betrayal of the syrian people and are increasingly responsible for the situation in syria and some of the slaughter that is taking place there. on the basis of their own national interest whether it is a very sensible policy to carry on in this way. they are putting their backs on the arab world and would reduce their influence in the middle east and this is a regime that they are backing a regime that is doomed in any case. i am planning after the visit today and no doubt have well expres

well in peace and near his character all that's the opinion of foreign minister sergei lavrov speaking about the west's reaction to un syria resolution veto by russia and china his comments came during a joint appearance with the foreign minister of bahrain. as lavrov prepares to head to damascus tomorrow our correspondent peter oliver has been following what he's saying and how he's preparing peter what exactly did the foreign minister lavrov have to say just before he have to damascus on tuesday tomorrow russia's top diplomat certainly pulling no punches with his language a very strong worded statement from a lover of condemning those who have been what he says being hysterical over the situation in syria now so you have also critical of the decision by the united nations security council is not to allow a three day extension to devote being taken on a resolution on syria russia wanted that extended by three days so sort of a level of could go to damascus on this planned visit now he's going to be taking with him a message from president dmitri medvedev it's believed that message wil

that meeting proved to be successful in many ways because following the meeting foreign minister lavrov informed the press that president assad has agreed to talks with the opposition groups he has also agreed according to mr lavrov to follow the arab league's road map for increasing the number of observers in syria also president assad has agreed to send a government delegation to moscow which would meet with representatives of the opposition group now the syrian national council has agreed to allow moscow to mediate the roadmap for dialogue between the two sides this is an enormous positive sign considering the kind of standoff that the dividing parties have had in syria and the internet international community has had on reaching some type of consensus on how or how to approach the circumstance in a peaceful and fair manner now russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov said that moscow is committed to bringing peace and balance to syria but he also called on both sides of the conflict to needy and lee lay down their weapons and put a halt to the violence. our approach is based on a cle

." >> a rare foreign ally, sergei lavrov. the president of the maldives resigns after the police force joins public protest. welcome to "bbc world news. the $90 billion merger which will create one of the world's largest natural resources company's. 200 years of charles dickens, celebrating the writer of oliver twist and great expectations. welcome. no sign of respect for the residents of the city of homs. the fourth consecutive day it has been attacked in syria. these are live pictures. [gunfire] the situation is very dangerous. most residents have taken shelter indoors. that was the sound of gunfire. attacks in their fourth day. the interior ministry of syria vows to armed terrorist gangs in the city, they say. this is a picture. it is one camera positions in the city. there's gunfire in the background. we are not clear what direction that is coming from. these are live pictures coming from that city. a huge battery of fire. paul wood has been there along with our cameraman fred. their report does have some distressing imag

so sergey lavrov made the comments during his trip to the netherlands can you tell us more about what he said. well our foreign ministers also all criticized the recent proposal needed by the west to put together the so-called group of friends of syria because according to this project such a group would even cooed members and representatives of the syrian opposition and not of the of thought he said which is according to moscow not a productive approach in the situation i said your office said that the international community has all we need quite enough effort to prevent the syrian opposition from having peaceful dialogue in the soon enough thought east while russia stand still for peaceful communication for talks between both sides of this conflict. so you know i was also reminded that the syrian i thought these are really for this dialogue president assad as you can authorize the vice president of syria to talk with the opposition so it's kind of now the turn of the opposition to to make the next move and start talking with the authorities at the same time as foreign minister also

scheduled to visit damascus on tuesday when he where he will be meeting with president assad minister lavrov said moscow has no special concerns about the syrian president but has concerns about security in the world and that issue of security of course is being taken up in new york today as security council needs we will be covering developments on this story if a vote takes place it for a shield as you tell it of horsemen we'll update our viewers as more information becomes available all right our teams were in a port and i live for us with from new york thanks for that update sure. the security council meeting comes amid reports from syria of a new crackdown in the city of homes with hundreds reportedly killed damascus claims the killings were carried out by terrorists seeking to influence the un vote aren't you sorry for it was just returned from reporting their shares her insights . with regards to the situation in homes at the moment it's very hard to get a gauge on the accuracy of the figure is certainly really high priority to try and get some kind of accurate information coming out

scheduled to visit damascus on tuesday where he will be meeting with syrian president assad on mr lavrov said moscow has no special concerns about president assad but has concerns about security in the world the security council meeting comes amid reports from syria of a new crackdown in the city of homs with hundreds reported dead damascus claims the killings were carried out by terrorists seeking to influence the un vote r.t. sarah ferguson has just returned from reporting in the region shares her insights. with regards to the situation in homes at the moment it's very hard to get a gauge on the accuracy of the figure is certainly a really high priority to try and get some kind of accurate information coming out from that because you know that does play a big part in how the international community are now going to respond to the situation certainly in the country the situation is that these people you've got an increasingly polarized country you've got a situation that just seems to be escalating all the time and these armed conflicts breaking out in areas with civilian populations an

the draft text that was put together on the resolution of syria and russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said that russia did make some amendments wanted some amendments to this draft resolution being pushed by the west and the arab league and according to russian foreign minister sergei lavrov they were not excessive measures he said that a u.n. resolution on syria would be possible if a constructive approach would be taken now while the text of this resolution over the week has softened a bit to meet russia's demands such as dropping a push for an arms embargo that would still language in this text that we're going to russian officials could have been interpreted as regime change and pushing for foreign intervention the term consider further measures still in this resolution now russian foreign minister sergei lavrov believes that internal conflicts in sovereign states should not be dealt with this in this way such as using the security council as a tool to intervene in in conflicts on the contrary russia's position on china's position and other countries believe that the security coun

with our correspondent who was in the syrian capital along with the russian foreign minister sergei lavrov we now know they are on their way to the airport and well russia and china are facing a barrage of criticism from some western and arab states for their decision to block the latest u.n. resolution on syria and moscow has already dubbed the reaction hysterical saying the resolution took a biased approach to resolving the syrian civil conflict or to sarah further has been following the diplomatic so down sara clearly the flies are not seeing eye to eye take us through what exactly the disagreements are what each day to have to look much further evidence of just how divisive this conflict has been the most thing happening on the international stage for the past couple of days now when russia and china vetoed the un resolution on syria we saw that sparking fears condemnation from many in the west. the united states is disgusted that a couple members of this council continue to prevent us from fulfilling our sole purpose here. as well as murdering. to get its credibility back internationa

and talk now russian delegation to syria today is headed by the country's foreign minister sergei lavrov and together with foreign intelligence chiefs because of fraud calls they bear a message from russians residents of president assad's message that's calling on for siller syria's democratic changes in the country and while the speculations haven't that those changes may include a change of regime sergei lavrov suggested that asking presidents of certain countries to step down is not a russian profession now this comes after russia vetoed for the second time u.n. security council's resolution on syria previously russia had asked the u.n. security council not to wash with sides decisions and give russian delegation a chance to visit damascus one more time to talk to president assad once more. voting on the resolution however that request was ignored which russia found quite disrespectful meanwhile the u.s. has shut down its embassy in syria and is seeking further regional and national sanctions. on syria as well as the u.k. britain has recruited its ambassador from syria for consultatio

outcome of our national dialogue a mind among political forces in syria we did get to hear from mr lavrov and here's a little bit more of what he had to say regarding the draft text. through sed. go to the issue of the government is completely. the mission of the groups for the institution of. the state institutions. and the government to see the police to do months that is to do no demur and so that is through the lobby groups except the blue shield spoke of this about the do it once the government the much more specific. now russia's prime minister will visit can ask for talks with president assad on tuesday now it comes amid reports from stern of a new crackdown in the city of homs with hundreds allegedly killed damascus claims that the killings were carried out by terrorist groups seeking to influence the u.n. decision a decision that we will be following and monitoring and reporting on in the hours to come absolutely our teams were an important ally for us with that update from new york thank you. well the security council meeting comes amid reports from syria of a new crackdown in t

a lot of things that the really after the visit of russian foreign minister sergei lavrov to the moscow. the syrian government and the president bashar assad had actually receive the signal from moscow to moscow is very much interested in the. syrian conflict and more school would do everything possible to help the syrian president to help the syrian government and syrian authorities to find ways for a dialogue with the opposition and without. all the violence erupting in this country so this is a signal from moscow that i think that means that still some more ways of a peaceful settlement and diplomatic solution of the syrian crisis president said he's ready to talk to all political forces in syria well moscow be able to convince all factions within the opposition to do the same and i don't know why our western countries so reluctant to pursue that line this line of sitting down and talking out the situation. oh well i think that concerning the first part of your question i would say that of course i suppose that could really has actually some lover a syrian government on syria and the

well i think this is a huge thing for actually mr lavrov and specially the head of national security there because first of all they know exactly like i said what's happening but the thing is they want to actually get more proof for the the whole world to understand them to know is what's happening there is not not a regime change this is an act of terrorism and there's gangs that's killing syrians left and right so basically when you're completely denying the government crackdowns on the people who are protesting for example the city of homes well i'll tell you something no definitely of course something i have because first of all this is it's in outrage for somebody to believe and it's an insanity that during during the time of a u.n. resolution is being taking down toward syria the syrian government is going to actually crack down on homeless this is definitely an act of terrorism done by the by the by the gangs that's already been getting money and weapons from different countries so they can bring down this regime so this isn't an outrage for somebody to actually believe that t

foreign minister held negotiations with president bashar al assad in damascus after the meeting sergei lavrovsaid moscow will continue its efforts to settle the crisis through diplomatic means or he was with the rush delegation in the syrian capital russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov when the handle of the foreign intelligence service meant.

well russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov was talking today to his u.a.e. counterpart is visiting here they were discussing the syrian crisis we had him responding to the press conference to the calls from the arab league gave the weekends for an arab un peacekeeping mission to be deployed in syria now his response today is cool's word that it would need further explanation and that also a number of points would need to be guaranteed before that could go ahead importantly that damascus would need to agree with that and also that there would need to be something resembling a ceasefire before any peacekeepers could be deployed in the country. first in order to deploy peacekeeping mission we need the agreement of the host secondly there should first be peace which the peacekeeping mission will then help sustain you know the words there should be a kind of cease fire agreement the trouble is that armed groups fighting with the regime's forces do not listen to anyone and are not controlled by anyone. that's a musket mediately rejected days plans for the further

authority of the security council if russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said that moscow art does not support using the security council as a tool to intervene on a sovereign country that is experiencing an internal conflict he believes that could create chaos in international affairs so as we see there was two toes on this resolution it did go through and it's because russia believes that as the draft resolution was presented it had a lot of imbalances in it when it comes to the current circumstance in syria russian envoy to the united nations vitaly churkin did go into detail about those imbalances and whether the security council has not yet reached its conclusion with what resolution put to the bill does not adequately. and soon enough. i would consider taking into account the syrian opposition to distance itself from extremist groups committing violent states your ability to use them is to. know when you're going to take into account along with his decent. nor has there been supporting more into media outlets but arab league. delegation was forced to give their position. this

the russian foreign minister sergey lavrov is on his way to damascus what's his visit likely to achieve. it can represent a just share of reconciliation between the two sides are going to. go about reaching some kind of agreement both kinds can both sides can assert but it's quite unlikely for this purpose to be achieved so from our perspective it might be one of the many ways for the russians to try to influence before the election so as to replace some of the domestic audiences but it might be another question after the election and. the russians have already said its findings must take christ has done his task but i don't think personally i don't think it's possible for any countries to mediate a resolution that can't get such a both sides in syria well in the u.s. has been critical of russia and china's double veto of the syrian two off reservation is this fair. well they bow to the cold war it is a bit you know was famous for featuring a lot of resolutions and the americans are also quite famous for peatling and resolution that is so happens to us through so from the chinese perspe

lavrov brought with him a letter from russian president medvedev. to urge to hold tksith anti-government forces and promote political reforms. russia has friendly ties wh syria and has a port there. they hope to win a breakthrough by negotiating directly with sad. the european union is considering additional sanctions against syria. the target this time is syria's central bank. the sanctions would freeze the bank'sssets in member countries and ban most transactions. the economic squeeze is aimed at forcing assad to end his crackdown on anti-government protesters. the eu has already frozen assets and imposed travel bansn syrian leaders and groups. it has also banned oil imports from the country. diplomat sources told nhk the eu is now k looing at a wider trade embargo. that would include the export of gold and other precious metals. wants to get a new line of sanctions agreed when their foreign ministers meet in brussels. as we mentioned britain, france, and other european nations already pulled their ambassadors out of the country. >>> western leade

how much leverage does sergei lavrov has there? >> as soon as he talks about compromise, a peaceful solution. we know that the russians are talking to the opposition. the arms deal that they signed was meant to be executed more than a deal from now. it will make assad wonder if they're cutting another deal. as soon as they go down the other side of the seesaw, they don't have that leverage. >> the kind of language that we hear out of moscow, you are suggesting that might not be the whole story. the might be cracks in the russian position. >> there are definitely multiple audiences. i was just watching a broadcast on russian state television which was clearly intended to remind russians, the russian state is legitimate and powerful. that is important for the domestic audience. remember, protests are terrorists. they are illegitimate and seeking to bring down a legitimate government. >> what does russia want from syria? what is the endgame? >> at this point, it is much more of what russia would like to prevent. i don't think anyone c

by the leadership of the foreign minister mr lavrov and the idea was kind of. multi fall to profile even more our country russia in the field of human rights democracy and rule of law and those are very much interconnected in the interlinked elements obviously and spheres. to provide for additional opportunities for dialogue with our partners and when i say partners i mean the equate the broad spectrum of those . country is. international going as asians and institutions non-governmental institutions. and also of course to mourn it are the first and foremost they will see to monitor the situation in the field of human rights democracy the rule of law . broad it means in the world. the underlying idea is their. human rights are universal this is the general recognition and the common recognition is a trained in the universal declaration and the many other documents in common and so on on human rights it means that human race are for everybody. all people have the right to enjoy his liberty to enjoy human race on the on the other hand all states have to. implemen

help maintain the unity or the authority of the security council russian foreign minister sergei lavrov said that moscow does not support using the security council as a tool to intervene on a sovereign country experiencing an internal conflict he believes that could create chaos in international affairs so as we see there was to veto this resolution it did not go through and it's because russia believes that as the draft resolution was presented it had a lot of imbalances in it when it comes to the current circumstance in syria russian envoy to the united nations vitaly churkin did go into detail about those imbalances but why do you work in the security council has not yet reached its conclusion that you know that the draft resolution put to the vote does not adequately which led to the real situation in syria that consumed. the co-sponsors of the resolution of north sigmond wooding if there was that i'm not taking into account the syrian opposition they must distance itself from extremist groups committing violence. on states your ability to use their influence to prevent such . no w

well russia's foreign minister sergey lavrov was meeting today with.