he'll have a jump in popularity that might strengthen his negotiating hand right below me is the lenski is really great that they sort of head of state functions we sort on election night he's someone who really shows the emotional needs vice might be something to do with the fact that he has a background in acting one might speculate he's really seen as a quite a genuine later. and he shares in the emotion of the moment we saw that at kiev airport as as the detainees arrived back to the city we saw his nervousness and then his joy and this is something which really connects with ukrainians because they have a tradition of rather a much soviet style ladies and lot of his legs he's someone who's really the people's president to friends of tony blair. and you've been actually reporting on this part of the story closely with one of the families involved in the prisoner exchange can you tell us a bit about that why maybe not everybody is happy that not everybody is happy about this aspect of the story we've seen the release of 5 place offices of a trial for the murder all 48 protests is on

captives hadn't same friends or family for years on hand a visibly moved president flaw to me is a lenski he greeted the exchange during talks with russia's fled he made 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 afraid 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 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 paragraph of our. 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 say the ukrainian government too has violated detainees rights . which is you know they tortured me 5 times in jail on a good movie

go there the pro russian separatists in control of the city aware e of the foreign press presence lensky was elected early this year on a promise to bring down your back to ukrainian government control that's what this meeting in paris is all about. back in the front line it's quiet at least during daylight hours silence allows time to think about the future. but i'm not interested in this normandy summit what will happen will happen. this war needs to end i've lost so many comrades already. giving the others some weight making peace and that's going to be to the. repercussions of this war will be felt for years to come it's not just about the mines and grenades the litter this landscape about the war in people's heads that report from our correspondent nick connelly and he is in paris for the talks and joins us for more hi nick this will be the 1st ever meeting between ukraine's president selenski and president putin what do you think we can expect when these 2 meet. well to meet the expectations are very high indeed basically everyone has been waiting for this meeting since he was elec

you know president lenski has made a lot of concessions in order for these talks to even go ahead so what is at stake for him in paris. a great deal selenski was elected to the ukrainian presidency on a promise to bring peace to bring ukrainians back to the normalcy they enjoyed before 2014 although this conflict has basically disappeared from the international headlines people wounded and killed in eastern ukraine on a daily basis millions of lost their homes so there's a real huge humanitarian cost to this conflict that we really underestimate maybe in western europe where this isn't daily news screens and beyond that there's a real sense that western european leaders particularly today's host the man on the call wants to get back to business as normal with putin's kremlin and will be putting a lot of pressure on ukraine to make concessions to allow them to withdraw the sanctions and to reengage with russia all right so a lot at stake a lot of pressure here how likely is it that these talks will come to any sort of agreement. well that's the $1000000.00 question this kind of sum a

hopeful joe biden and his family from both or allegedly pressured ukrainian president voted me the lenski to investigate into bungs conspiracy theory that it was ukraine and not russia this interfered in the 2016 us election the report also accuses trump of obstructing the investigation by refusing to provide documents and blocking government officials from testifying trump who is in london for the nato summit seemed unfazed by the reports saying he had the backing of his party. the. folks is going nowhere the republican war is that it is this is right now i have never seen it in. the house intelligence committee approved the report on tuesday it's now up to the judiciary committee to consider the evidence and draft the articles of impeachment against the president democrat same to hold a full house vote on impeachment before christmas. the u.s. house of representatives has passed a bill to impose sanctions on chinese officials for beijing's treatment of wee gore muslims more than a 1000000 we gore's are being kept in reeducation camps the bill aims to end the quote arbitrary detention to

president's lenski of government is convinced that only a buffer zone between the front lines can bring peace. it's a short drive from the trenches to one of the region's biggest crossing points between government and separatist held territory thousands make the journey every day spending hours out in the cold. we're hoping for peace after all this time we need to resolve this war it's been 6 years since it all began i'm convinced on buses part of ukraine selenski and putin should sit down together drink some thought get together and put all this behind them if you put me to the pub with 3. we need a united ukraine and we need an end to all this. so people don't have to suffer in these queues anymore the closer which implore her. back at the front line it's quiet at least during daylight hours silence allows time to think about the future of this war needs to and i've lost so many comrades already. giving the other site making peace that's going to be tough. repercussions of this war will be felt for years to come it's not just about the mines and grenades the litter this landscape it's

said although he doesn't believe that the phone call between trump and the ukrainian president the lenski was purrfect he also things that it doesn't deliver enough evidence to move forward in the impeachment inquiry so 2 very differing positions here. and that also reflects the position in the opinion of the american public. and what is the is the exact purpose of they series . or their different phases and the 1st phase that was concluded yesterday was about collecting evidence in the intelligence committee and that evidence has now moved forward to the judiciary committee and the strategy here seems pretty clear they want now independent legal experts scholars of some of america's most are known universities to take a stance on these findings that's what we heard here today and so in the end again 2 very differing per specked of see are the democrats got what they wanted but they were republicans did so as well so they all will have their sound bites that are now running all of the networks here and presented to the adequate audiences were given by the we have now weeks in today's impe

come to the program we start with a major meeting in paris ukrainian president for a lot of years a lenski and his russian counterpart vladimir putin face to face for the 1st time with eastern ukraine on the agenda after 6 hours of negotiations the 2 leaders have agreed to implement a quote full and comprehensive cease fire in eastern ukraine it's the 1st time in 3 years the talks focusing on ending the war have been held a pair sat down with french president emmanuel mccraw and german chancellor angela merkel who both brokered the meeting the conflict started in 24. it has killed more than 13000 people and displaces 4 than 1000000 u.p.d. and the 2 leaders made separate announcements after those closed door negotiations that. the parties have reached an agreement on liberation all the prisoners before the 31st of december following the principle of all by all here it has been agreed to verify the list of prisoners and provide access by the red cross to all prisoners. but some of them is going to know coming to the trauma krista lu she. was sheep in the disputed for months and this is certa

in eastern ukraine could soon be over and victory for ukraine's new president of law to me is the lenski. for more than 5 years the craniotomy has been fighting russian backed separatists in the country's east the war has cost more than 13000 lives and turned a key industrial region into a conflict zone. efforts to stop the fighting have so far come to little when selenski was elected in april he promised of restarting the peace process that culminated in a meeting this month with his french german and russian counterparts in which sunday's exchange was agreed. the deal is again raising hopes for us with preselection to the conflict but major hurdles between russia and ukraine still need to be overcome before peace is possible. and turning back to our correspondent david stern who's outside the airport and for those prisoners just landed david now i can imagine this prisoner exchange is one big part of finding some kind of final settlement to the conflict between the russians back separatists and ukraine what else is on the table what else needs to be cleared for there to finally end to

president to me is the lenski. for more than 5 years the craniotomy has been fighting russian backed separatists in the country's east. cost around 14000 lives and turned a key industrial region into a conflict zone. efforts to stop the fighting have so far come to. when selenski was selected a night he promised of restarting the peace process that culminated in a meeting dismount with his french german and russian counterparts in which sunday's exchange was agreed. the deal is again raising hopes for us with preselection to the conflict but major hurdles between russia and ukraine still need to be overcome before peace is possible. and coming back to david stern who is at the airport in kiev david this prisoner exchange put it into the larger context for us is this going to be part of the bigger peace process that ukraine and russia are trying to settle. well yes it is definitely is a positive step anything any exchange like this is a confidence building measure for both sides the question is obviously though how

fire in eastern ukraine russian president vladimir putin and ukrainian president lot of me as the lenski were meeting for the 1st time to discuss the conflict centered on that donbass region of ukraine now it's currently held by russian backed separatists at the talks in paris the 2 sides agreed to steps aimed at easing tensions they've agreed to release in exchange all detainees by the end of the year to disengage military forces in $53.00 regions in eastern ukraine and to hold more talks in 4 months to check on the progress of the ceasefire leaders made separate announcements at the end of the talks station a little this was a meeting was long and difficult but the mood was rather positive and that's the truth and i really want to emphasize that point is we will continue the discussions and for months and see the results of what we've achieved it is. not a month this is certainly an important step towards deescalating the situation in eastern ukraine as well as easing tensions. our correspondent nick conley is in paris he covered the talks there between the russian and ukrainian leader

several 1000 people have gathered in the ukrainian capital kiev to urge president followed in his lenski to resist pressure from russia the rani comes on the eve of a summit between zelinsky and russian leader vladimir putin the talks aimed to end the 5 year russian backed insurgency in eastern ukraine. the f.b.i. says it believes the shooting in friday's base attack carried out an act of terrorism the saudi air force officer killed 3 people wounded several others before being shot by police the agency is questioning whether saudis other saudis who were training with him at the base with. santa does to get his younger ever prime minister 34 year old son the matin has been nominated by the social democrats who need the 5 poxy coalition government on interest confirmed as the new head of government next. the man behind a sesame street's big bird has died at the age of 85 carol spinny who works on the iconic children's educational t.v. show from its start 50 years ago until he retired last year had been suffering from a most interesting. well demonstrations have taken to the streets of the

to meet crime could soon be ending it was an early victory for ukraine's new president the music lenski. we're all agreed the 1st step to one block. or not. it is returning our soldiers political prisoners. who more than 5 years the ukrainian army has been fighting russian back separatists in the country's aist doors cost around 14000 lives until he came duster region into a conflict saw and. efforts to stop the fighting have come to little when selenski was elected in i pro he promised to restart the peace process that culminated in a meeting this month with his french german and russian counterparts in which today's exchange was a grade. a. that and i'm an exchange between both sides in this conflict to whom based on swapping everyone on the. pieces with the 2 major exchanges complete by the end of the year the impetus in the coming 12 months will be on diplomacy completing the exchanges is a way of building trust between russia and ukraine and the separatists. let's get more on this from our correspondent david stern who's in kiev and who's following today's events for us so david ho

eastern ukraine could soon be over that early victory for ukraine's new president a blow to me is the lenski. for more than 5 years the craniotomy has been fighting russian backed separatists in the country's east the war has cost more than 13000 lives and turned a key industrial region into a conflict zone. efforts to stop the fighting have so far come to little when selenski was elected and i for all he promised to restart in the peace process that culminated in the made. this month with his french german and russian counterparts in which sunday's exchange was agreed. the deal is again raising hopes for a swift prezza lucian to the conflict but major hurdles between russia and ukraine still need to be of the calm before peace is possible. correspondent david stern was at the airport in kiev for the homecoming of the ukrainian prisoners. president lot of resilience he is following through on one of his main promises that is to bring people back from with captivity in the east and as we saw this evening in the airport here this creates a great deal of joy a great deal of emotion within those

to that now infamous ukraine phone call between president trump and president of a lot of mayors a lenski back in july the allegations made the allegation made here is that trump pressured selenski and ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election campaign of the united states not number 2 the 2nd article of impeachment made is obstruction of congress interesting lee that they'd spec to right after the inquiry began and essentially that president trump instructed the white house to not cooperate with the inquiry he instructed his aides to withhold documents and even prevented them to testify on capitol hill and that could have been another a 3rd article of impeachment by the democrats really decided to focus on ukraine as they were afraid that they could weaken their case if they extend that impeachment inquiry in the articles here and we knew that the democrats in the u.s. house they're convinced that the president will be impeached and should be removed from office has there been reaction today from the u.s. president. well absolutely and president trump took to twitter in his usual fashion

the world several 1000 people gathered in the ukrainian capital kiev to present the image of the lenski to resist pressure from russia the rally comes on the eve of a summit in paris between selenski and his russian counterpart vladimir putin that talks are aimed at ending the russian backed insurgency in eastern ukraine which is now in its 5th year. u.s. president donald trump has wounds north korean leader kim jong un he has quote everything to lose if it is not denuclearize earlier pyongyang said it had carried out an important tested a missile launching site the north wants us concessions before agreeing to move towards. firefighters are racing to contain almost 100 bushfires in eastern australia where the conditions have been used but a megaphone close to the biggest city in sydney is still threatening homes and heat wave with strong winds is because this we call forty's fear that will fuel more severe places. where hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets of the bella russian capital minsk to protest against closer ties with russia sunday marks 20 years since the 2 coun

the world several 1000 people have gathered in the ukrainian capital kiev to urge president vala lenski to resist pressure from russia a rally comes on the eve of a summit between zelinsky and the russian leader vladimir putin the talks aimed to end the 5 year russian backed insurgency in eastern ukraine. the f.b.i. says it believes the shooter in friday's air base attack carried out an act of terrorism the saudi air force officer killed 3 people and wounded several others before being shot by police the agency is questioning other saudis who were training at the base with him in. finland is set to get its youngest ever prime minister 34 year old son american has been nominated by the social democrats to lead the 5 party coalition government parliament is likely to confirm her as the new head of government next week. turkish police have broken up a women's protest in istanbul has rallied to perform a song just in your heart which originated in chile and draws attention to violence against women as police moved in protesters chanted don't stop the women stop the murderous. well demonstra

several 1000 people have gathered in the ukrainian capital kiev to urge president for them is the lenski to resist pressure from russia right it comes on the eve of the summit between zelinsky and russian leader that he knew polluted the talks aimed to end the 5 year russian backed insurgency in eastern ukraine. polls are growing from multiple prime ministers to quit immediately protesters marched to the capital the letter demanding that jason muscat not wait until january to leave office as he has promised moscow faces pressure over alleged links to the murder of a prominent investigative. i tended just to get its youngest prime minister 34 year old son irene has been nominated by the social democrats who need the 5 party coalition government parliaments likely to confirm her as the new head of government next week. a top out repeated to be hit those is among a rebellion handed over to israel's main holocaust museum by a lebanese businessman he hit the headlines buying up a large collection of nazi era items he had originally intended to destroy them to stop them forging into the hands

can't go that the pro russian separatists in control of the city aware of the foreign press presence lensky was elected earlier this year on a promise to bring down yet back to ukrainian government control that's what this meeting in paris is all about. back in the front line it's quiet at least during daylight hours silence allows time to think about the future. i'm not interested in this normandy summit what will happen will happen. this war needs to and i've lost so many comrades already. but they're giving the other side making peace and that's going to be tough. repercussions of this war will be felt for years to come it's not just about the mines and grenades litter this landscape it's about the war in people's heads. a secure now to paris where these all important talks are taking place you might guess is in the french capital good to see you again tell us what's happening right behind you in the end he's a palace right now over $200.00 journalists here at the elysee palace lay low we're just holding their breath as the 4 leaders sat down together for the 1st time since over 3 years

inquiry to take place until the information about the president's pressure on ukrainian president lenskiame out -- president zelensky came out a few months ago, she is now sending a letter to her democratic colleagues telling them that this is a very grave and solemn moment, that's what they're doing is one of the most important and serious things allowed to members of congress under the terms of the u.s. constitution, and that they should keep that in mind as they convene on wednesday morning to take up the two articles of impeachment and to decide whether to pass them, setting the stage for, as you said, that file in the senate in early january. earlier on tuesday, members of the house rules committee started their debate on how to actually shape the debate that will take place on wednesday. first we will hear from a democratic member who was essentially chairing the process and then we will hear from his republican colleagues. president's aggressive and unprecedented resistance to congressional subpoenas for witnesses and documents is blatantly and dangerously unconstitutional. normal

during the 2016 election these events bear directly on the president's state of mind president's lensky had run on an anti-corruption platform but he was an untried politician with a relationship to a controversial ukrainian oligarchy when vice when former vice president pence met with president selenski in warsaw i'm sorry when vice president pence met with president lansky in warsaw in september 1 he stressed to him the need for reform and reiterated the president's concern about burden sharing especially among european allies in late august in early september after his party took control of the ukrainian parliament ukraine passed historic reforms to fight corruption these reforms including removing parliamentary immunity which witnesses said had been a historic source of corruption. and if members of our congress had immunity president trump later lifted the pause on security assistance and met with president selenski 2 weeks later the aide was pause for 55 days very simply the evidence in the democrats' impeachment inquiry does not support the conclusion that president trump abused

go that the pro russian separatists in control of the city aware e of the foreign press presence lensky was elected early this year on a promise to bring down your back to ukrainian government control that's what this meeting in paris is all about. back in the front line it's quiet at least during daylight hours silence allows time to think about the future. of. the i'm not interested in this normandy summit what will happen will happen. this war needs to end i've lost so many comrades already but they're giving the others some late making peace and that's going to be tough. the repercussions of this war will be felt for years to come it's not just about the mines and grenades the litter this landscape is about the war in people's heads. for more now let's bring in jonathan can't see is a senior fellow at the german marshall fund of the united states. it's good to have you on the program i want to look at these 2 places we're. zelinsky he's a newcomer putin has room russia most of this century i mean this face to face meeting in paris it is not a meeting of the equals is. well the good

the normandy for talks when vladimir putin for the 1st time met the ukrainian president for them as lenski under german chancellor angela merkel and the french president a manual necron being there as well this was one of the one of the things one of the agreements that they reached during that meeting in paris now this war has seen there have been a few hitches and if you said backs of to this what for instance we do know that at least 2 people 2 persons refused to take part in. he refused to go back from donetsk and lugansk republics regions for one reason or another also all saw 5 former members of burke could police unit an elite police unit that took part in dispersing the protests the protests the modern uprising back in back when it happened they were part of this war too and they didn't go well with some people because some people in ukraine the share a rather radical stance the rather radical view look on what's going on on the war and so on and what happened on the my done and they share not just animosity but pure hatred towards former birchard members so yesterday there was a c

grow up in a recent interview the ukrainian leaders the lenski also dismissed these allegations about president. behavior and interactions with him look i never talked to the president from the position of a quid pro quo that's not my thing i don't want us to look like bagus now many witnesses testified during the impeachment inquiry hearings but observers wondered if they really made a strong case that donald trump had been inappropriate in his dealings with ukraine this is some of the testimony that was heard there was no mention of withholding aid on the call correct that is correct and there was no quid pro quo correct correct was there any reference to withholding aid you know there was not any reference to bribery no there was not any reference to quid pro quo no there was not you have any information regarding any criminal activity that the president of the united states has been involved with total. now before this report was released on monday we had a report from the republicans that was released it was 123 pages long and it defended the actions of u.s. president donald trum

hopeful joe biden and his family from pulsar allegedly pressured ukrainian president voted me the lenski to investigate to debunk conspiracy theory that it was ukraine and not russia this interfered in the 2016 us election the report also accuses trump of obstructing the investigation by refusing to provide documents and blocking government officials from testifying trump who is in london for the nato summit seemed unfazed by the reports saying he had the backing of his party. the impeachment folks is going nowhere. or is that it is this is right now i have never seen it in. the house intelligence committee approved the report on tuesday it's now up to the judiciary committee to consider the evidence and draft the articles of impeachment against the president democrat saying to hold a full house votes on impeachment before christmas. turning now to south korea where the death of a young celebrities in recent months has highlighted the intense fresh faced by pop stars the latest is an actor who started out as a kid. it seems likely that all 3 deaths in recent months. they've lifted the li

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 u.s. military were engaged in covert actions really throughout the world. where they were assassinating populist leaders they were backing up the right way military funding an army of death squads there's no any more because there's always a small income for a really good this is a profit. kind of financial survival job today was all about money laundering 1st to visit this cash industry different. oh good this is a good start well we have our 3 ban

paris between the leaders of russia and ukraine the meeting between vladimir putin and of autumn is lenski brokered by the leaders of france and germany is aimed at ending the 5 year conflict in eastern ukraine ukrainian officials say among their demands are the last thing ceasefire in the region and the exchange of all prisoners. there's the headlines to stay with us there she can the stream is up next and i'll be back with more news after that thanks so much watching in a bit by fire. and you're in the stream today we're kicking off a weeklong look at the global impact of colonial colonialism and how does colonialism shape the wealth that we actually live in and what ways has it influenced your life so many of you have already answered that question with hash tag because colonialism and i'll be sharing your responses throughout the week so join our conversation on twitter or live on you tube. ok my jaffery story university of amsterdam and you are in history. by the early 19th century of vast majority of the world's nations have been colonized by european powers the empire building avera

seeking independence from kiev president vladimir putin and his ukrainian counterpart vladimir the lenski both describe the meeting as positive. yes the. is there a thaw in our relations i think yes of course we have discussed a broad range of issues and made progress on many of them all of that gives grounds to believe that the process is moving in the right direction. which shook us. with regards to our peace efforts we have met and i think it's a great step towards peace the meeting was long and difficult but the mood of the meeting was positive. and a written statement both leaders agreed to implement a complete ceasefire by the end of this year and a complete all for all prisoner swap as well they also committed to withdrawing troops from certain conflict zones before april next year and to ensuring that these are the mind. reports. so has there been a breakthrough in paris or not well the new president of ukraine and president vladimir putin of russia shook cannes for the 1st time they spoke one on one to each other for the 1st time and spent an entire day and the residence of frenc

up the specter unique in relation to these negotiations but the underlying point is that yes the lenski is under huge pressure to make no. no concessions to the russians at all or to the people and the dong bass he's still with he's talking about essentially a pending the order of events sequences set out clearly in the minsk agreement but the whole situation hold on the lawn situation has now changed completely because in 20142015 ukraine was the key transit country supplying only more gas that was not anymore i mean today today the gas is going to increasingly parser in germany through nord stream one which is of course already operating through nord stream too which is in the final stages of completion there's a new pipeline going to turkey to turkey could supply russian gas to turkey in them through turkey to the souls in europe the russians have also hugely strengthened their leverage by opening a gas pipeline to china so they're no longer is dependent on european customers as they were for the sales of their gas and of course there are people in like emanuel knock on france who ar

go that the pro russian separatists in control of the city aware e of the foreign press presence lensky was elected earlier this year on a promise to bring down your back to ukrainian government control that's what this meeting in paris is all about. back in the front line it's quiet at least during daylight hours silence allows time to think about the future. of. the i'm not interested in this normandy summit what will happen will happen. this war needs to end but i've lost so many comrades already but they're giving the other site making peace and that's going to be to the. repercussions of this war will be felt for years to come it's not just about the mines and grenades the litter this landscape it's about the war in people's heads. the economy there in eastern ukraine well let's catch up on some other stories making headlines now at least one person has been killed in a volcanic eruption in new zealand about 50 people were thought to be on or around the volcano on white island a popular tourist destination police say more fatalities are expected but it's quote too dangerous to carr

go that the pro russian separatists in control of the city aware e of the foreign press presence lensky was elected earlier this year on a promise to bring down your back to ukrainian government control that's what this meeting in paris is all about. back in the front line it's quiet at least during daylight hours silence allows time to think about the future. i'm not interested in this normandy summit what will happen will happen. this war needs to and i've lost so many comrades already. giving the others some late making peace and that's going to be to the. repercussions of this war will be felt for years to come it's not just about the minds of grenades deleted this landscape it's about the war in people's heads well the conflict in eastern ukraine is has been going on now for 5 years here to talk about is liana fix she's program director of international affairs at the curb a foundation and an expert on russia and eastern europe thanks for being with us this morning those are we just heard in our report ukraine wants to bring the dawn bus region back under government control how rea

- as well as we saw the room people's morale and people really what we don't like the president's lenski at. not as much as the political veteran is not an efficient is going to give away too much tonight. that's a real concern isn't it there's a lot of worry and- talk about gun. the piece that just aired is that i've bebeen to the front line many times. and does the best phrase sorry to say i can describe it is really hell on earth because there's so much damage to not only- public infrastructure but also the homes. and buildings that sort of thing and a big problem people have a lot of- screens on the rebel controlled side have to cross the front line. the heavily mined front front. at the ukrainian pensions and that can take. hours sometimes to go do that. so that's a big- a big concern especially for the elderly who live there. the other thing that's been happening it isn't covered very much on the rebel controlled site is russia has been doing all it. can to russified the area. russian curriculum. russian currency even reissuing rustom passports. and is go over point about also the