mr lavrov for the warm reception and generous hospitality, namely, the efforts exerted in reinforcing and cementing the arab russian relations. the presence and attendance of this large number of my fellow foreign ministers in this meeting is an indication that arab countries are keen on preserving and developing their bilateral relations with russia. this meeting creates a suitable environment for discussing and also developing the relation taking this relation to a higher lev level. not only in terms of political issues, security or military issues, but also in other economical social, cultural and also sports issues. this meeting sends out a very clear and important message on how the arab governments are keen on preserving this relation and placing it as a top priority. despite the fact that we are not always in agreement with russia with respect to certain issues, we share the same view and stance that order, stability and security must prevail in the middle east region, and here i should commend russia's stance on supporting the palestinian people and the efforts aiming at putti

mr lavrov has arrived in the last few minutes. he will be speaking as will his colleague the prime minister and then after those two have spoken we will be hearing a statement from the u.s. secretary of state, john kerry, and what they all have to say will definitely indicate to us how serious they are about finding a resolution and maybe changing the opinions of the people we've been hearing zana talk about there, having to implement what has been agreed upon here >>> syria aside, there's another important conflict which is becoming almost a frozen conflict, isn't it, and that's ukraine, a year after a ceasefire arrangement was agreed by so many of the parties involved. >> reporter: yes. that's right. there's the normandy format of these meetings which involves france, germany, ukraine and russia, and the four foreign ministers were due to be here today. the french foreign minister will not be here until later on this evening. so he will not be taking part in the discussions this morning, but the other three foreign ministers wil

mr. lavrov of russia has been working furiously on this. apparently president obama of the united states and president putin did speak to each other on the phone today and if all sides agree on this, they call it a cessation of hostilities in syria, this could maybe happen. mind you this happens after a very violent weekend and also they are not including any attacks against the islamic state or the al qaeda affiliate, so it remains to be seen whether they can agree on all sides. there are still a lot of differences and whether the goal can be reached of building a future for syria without a dictatorship and terrorism. brent: you mentioned that the u.s. president, russian president, spoke on the phone. that's how high up, how high ranking this affair is. what is your assessment, how realistic is it that this cease-fire will start and that it will hold? heike: well, it's really hard to say. there's always hope. the hope is very high. this conflict has been going on for more than four years. now that russia is involved in it, since last septe

mr. lavrov, to pick out targeting. they're supposed to work together on the cease-fire, and they're supposed to work together on the humanitarian aid. i don't know how you do that without something that approaches coordination, made all the harder by the fact that the united states, of course, back into the sanctions business against the russians right now. >> thompson: david, you can talk a little bit about the timetable, how this will all work on the ground. >> well, megan, the way it's supposed to work is that the humanitarian relief is supposed to begin within days, and secretary keri said today that the trucks are loaded up and ready to go. but that's a different thing than actually getting them into where they're supposed to be. and the russians are supposed to be airdropping some aid. some of the big questions is where they aired drop it and to which people? if a week from today we still see a lot of fighting going on, then you'll know that this wasn't work the way it was supposed to. >> thompson: all right, dav

mr. lavrov's mind, but it's very clear that the secretary of state is the sup supplicant and this incredibly weak economy with a brutal dictator in charge is achieving goals that have been age-old ambitions of the russians. they're now playing a major role in the middle east. mr. graham: can i read to you an exchange, senator mccain, between -- this is john kerry two days ago. "there will be a cease-fire, kerry predicted tuesday in rome. we expect a cease-fire. we expect adherence to the cease-fire and we expect full humanitarian access. two days later the russian bombing hasn't stopped and thousands of syrians remain starving. not only has the russian bombing continued, putin sent in advanced fighter jets to do the bombing. kerry said he was assured by the russian counterpart, lavrov, the russians would stop bombing. when asked, lavrov said russia's strikes will not cease. i don't see why these airstrikes should be stopped. who is he talking to? the russians are telling john kerry to his face we're going to keep bombing. john kerry keeps telling the world they're going to stop bombing. in t

mr. kerry meets lavrov non-stop. really, until today russia is a sponsor of these geneva talks, and it continues to be an active party in syria bombarding the syrian opposition. that's an [ technical difficulties ] >> reporter: from the ministry of health, and what that says about the country's health systems. alth systems. [ technical difficulties ] >> [ technical difficulties ] >> a year ago. >> a year ago. [ technical difficulties ] ted >> he wanted to four year period during which they would not earn those benefits. he sort of got that, those benefits will be shushed, provided there is cooperation with other e.u. countries. there were other concessions as well, that the head of the european commission, the head of the european commission made, for example that if a european union law was unwanted by a specific member state, obviously in this case britain, provided a majority of parliaments across the 28e.u. member con glam makes agreed, then one member can opt out of those laws. all of this sounds incredibly dry

mr. lavrov have insisted this not be called a cease-fire because that comes with certain terms and conditionscessation of hostilities but oh, by the way that does not include even to the agreement that these guys signed this does not include russian air strikes. assad said i'm not going to stop fighting the people trying to topple me. really this thing is way up in the air. fancy talk. over a weekend. we'll see what happens. in the meantime the russians and the syrians have one week until implementation which is about how long some experts believe it will take them to capture aleppo and when that happens and then the cessation of hostility comes through then what? does that lock in then? if it does we have just handed victory to the assad regime. >> that's so tragic because time is of the essence. so many people are trapped and caught in the middle of this war that shows no sign of ending. think about the women, men and children who are literally starving to death as we speak right now. very complicated. >> well that's why i think what's going to happen is if the russians and the syrians and

mr. lavrov. russia has now made a joint statement it will agree to a cessation of hostilities february 27th. the only thing they have been consistent with is failing to keep its words. what do you support if it violates the ceasefire and it is a smokescreen or some kind of a charade? >> well, in answer to the question what does john kerry think he can achieve -- >> and the consequences for russia if they do violate. >> my job is war is the absence of failure of diplomacy. our job is to see if there is a way to bring this to an end. i'm not naively vouching for the fact this is going to work but the alternative is i go and visit countries while the war wages on and nobody makes the effort to stop it. that's the alternative. you'd be criticizing me if i were doing that. why isn't there diplomacy to try to find a solution? it is a well known fact i have advocated for strong efforts to make sure we achieve something. there's significant discussion taking place now about plan "b" in the event that we

mr. lavrov to after decimating the assad shame with its bombing russia has now made a joint statement with the u.s. that it will agree to a cessation of hostilities february 27. that is the only thing worse is inconsistent with his failing to keep his word. what consequences specifically what consequences do you support imposing upon russia if it violates the cease-fire agreement and it is just a smokescreen or some kind of a charade? >> well an answer to the question what does john kerry think he could achieve, the consequences for russia if they do violate, my job, the job of everybody in the state department is to try to warn the failure or absence of diplomacy and our job is to try to see if there is a way to bring this to an end. i'm not sitting here naÏvely vouching for the fact that this is going to work but the alternative is that i said in my office and it is a bunch of countries while the war rages on and nobody makes an effort to stop it. that's the alternative. you would be criticizing me if i was doing that. usa wasn't their diplomacy to try to find a solution and? it is a wel

mr. medvedev and lavrov standing up saying we're starting a cold war. everyone in europe is trying to reach out and partner with russia and yet russia at this security event is taking an opposite track. it's almost surreal what they continue to do as a mill teristic aggressive state that is suffering economic problems right now. >> and i'm so glad you brought up the economy, right, kimberly, because that plays in all of this. the extent to which russia's economy suffering now for more than a year has to play the role in the calculated words that he used. >> absolutely. it serves putin's purposes to make it seem to the russian people that the reason they're suffering at home is because russia is getting beaten back or bullied by world powers. and to portray this as russia's simply protecting its clients in places like ukraine, in places like syria, against this wider aggressive western. but russia could simply start working with the west on a few different key areas and have some of those sanctions lifted. they're not going to do that. >> thank you very