mr. poroshenko can get a deal with mr. putin, then the united states would be happy, nato would be happy, as long as mr. putin pulls his military troops. he has soldiers he has army formations in eastern europe. pulls them out and allows the ukrainians to seal that border, nato will be happy the americans will be happy and europe will be more secure. lou: while that is obviously a lofty and hopeful goals, what is -- is there any reason to expect that merkel and hollande and poroshenko will be successful with putin? he seems to be absolutely in control of all of the levers here. >> i'm not sure he is. i'm not sure he's totally in control. i think in the medium term he is in trouble, his economy is in very bad shape. sanctions that the europeans and the americans have put on him are biting badly. the oil price on which he depends for all of his revenue virtually is dropping precipitously, as we know. those two things don't look to get better. furthermore, the americans are considering providing sophisticated weapons to the u

mr. poroshenko has cut all activities in that area. they have imposed an economic transportation. no money are sent to this region. people don't get pensions and salaries. there is no food sent there oh from the rest of ukraine. so the people humanitarian aid is their lifeline for survival. if there is no more food and money coming from russia, four million people will be starving. already, this is a huge problem. according to the agreements the border will be controlled by the ukrainian government only when normal activity is started and when democratic elections are held in that region. so the problem is that both sides don't trust each other. and there should be a minimum of trust. right now the most aggressive rhetoric is coming from here, from mr. poroshenko who he keeps calling negotiation partners terrorists. he threatens to destroy them all. i don't know how the e.u. is going to put up with this new european government here. >> let's wait and see what happens, thank you very much for talking. >>> for many ukraines who left their homes, cease fires are too late since fighti

mr. poroshenkos the deal brokered in belarus could be in jeopardy. >> this is not just an attack of -- it is an attack of the minsk results. and without explanation because unfortunately after minsk the offensive operation of russia intensified significantly. we still think that the -- [ inaudible ] >> this cease-fire agreement would basically cement territorial gains for the rebels who now control parts of the don esk donetsk region. our senior correspondent, nick paton walsh, reports on the many challenges ahead. >> reporter: so many moving pieces ahead of the cease-fire literally hours away. the first being the tactical issues on the ground. will both sides stop shelling each other? where i'm standing sze intermittently heard shelling. both sides. the strategic hub. the raw emotion of fighters on both sides furious at civilian casualties. we saw one particularly tragic horrific incident that shook one family in separatist-held areas last the night. it was here thursday night when this family got their first running water for a week and quickly made the kids' bath. the 2 and a half-year

mr. poroshenko. we talked about a whole host of issues about what the options were and how we felt the russians were dealing with it from their side as well. let's listen in to his aspirations and comments? >> i have an inspiration and this is of the entire ukrainian nation. russians get out of our land but they're still in ukraine on ukrainian ground. the russian president hasn't any deal and russian aggression see severely effected ukraine. this is my primary target to get peace in my country. to pull back russian forces. to restore integrity and independence of ukraine. is it doable? yes. this is our joint task. >> are there elements of the treaty which you differ in terms of your appreciation compared with the president of ukraine. i've seen you quoted as saying the treaty creates a border within ukraine as well. it's something you're against. >> well you know we have just two options on the table, bad and worse. so the worse option is not to have any talks. the bad option is together with merkel

mr. putin. >> quick final question ambassador. is the ukrainian government of petro poroshenko threatened by all these set backs? >> this can't be good for petro poroshenko. but they know it's a tough fight. the international community must support mr. poroshenko and the ukrainians against the russians. >> ambassador william taylor in washington, thank you very much. >>> a counteroffensive by nigerian forces have apparently killed hundreds of boko haram fighters. more than 300 rebels died during an effort to take back 11 towns this week. two nigerian soldiers also died during the offensive. cameroon and chad also carried out offenses against the group along the nigerian border. meanwhile, the u.s. launched annual training exercises with african forces in chad. including three countries where boko haram has launched ordinance, niger nigeria and cameroon. the united states is providing military equipment to the officers in their fight. >>> demanding answers in the mysterious debt of prosecutor alberto nisman. >>> the following day he was scheduled to go before congress to accuse

mr. poroshenko your cease-fire. any quiet the cease-fire may bring with ring hollow numb and mere hours too late here. >> it's difficult to see the conditions they're dealing with. the u.s. ambassador to ukraine tweeted a short time ago that the separatists are arm. separatists have a large fighting force with more tanks, armored vehicles heavy military and rocket systems than some nato and european countries. photos showing what he says are russian military systems being deployed in eastern ukraine. >>> un secretary of yemen is on the brink of a civil war. >> and as instability grows in the country, more western countries have closed their embassies due to security fears. >> let me be clear, yemen is collapsing before our eyes. we cannot stand by and watch. >> his statement to the security council on thursday came as al qaeda linked fighters seized an army base in yemen housing 1,000 troops. >>> the united states is one of those countries suspending operations at its embassy in 'em men. >> specifically against al q

mr. poroshenko and then to mr. putin, and then they'll see what the two sides' reaction is. but it should also be said that there's a great deal of i guess you can say, not entirely optimism, of skepticism. i spoke to one western diplomat here in kiev who announced the visit and said basically, it's going to be very difficult. and difficult, precisely, because the situation on the ground is getting so much worse. one gets the sense that time is running out. this may not be the last chance but the fact that the two leaders are coming unexpected like this does indicate the sense of concern that is growing in the european capital, that we may be reaching the point of no return. >> david, thanks for the update from kiev. >>> bring you up to date with some other news now. al qaeda in yemen says a senior cleric was among four people killed in the recent u.s. drone strikes. this is in the south of the country. there's a statement that was posted on a twitter county run by the group. it said that he died on saturday. he recently appeared in a video praising last month's "charlie heb

mr. poroshenko is meeting with his top officials before leaving for minsk. he's prepared to put in martial law should these talks fall through. ukrainians are open to both options. he said we want peace and we're also prepared to defend our land to the last person. if we have to kick them in the teeth or give it to them in the teeth, we'll give it to them in the teeth. as you can hear he's striking a very defiant tone at the same time saying he's open for moeksz. it remain s tos to be seen what compromises he will be open if any. >> and rhetoric ahead of these talks, everyone is trying to talk tough at this stage? >> reporter: yes. i think there is a definite sense of posturing and also playing down expectations as we heard from the german leader there is a glimmer of hope. nobody wants to make this seem like it's going to succeed and have it fall through. the question is what will happen if it falls through. some people are saying this is the last chance. if it is the last chance there is indeed the very great risk as the french leader has said there could

mr. poroshenko can't be seen losing debaltseve a very strategic town we just heard about. if a cease-fire isn't adhered to he could introduce martial law. ultimately the question how it is obviously a serious setback for ukrainians. the question is how serious it is going to be. >> what pressure and what advice is coming through from the west. we heard in the last week america was considering arming the ukrainians. any developments on that? >> reporter: no. we haven't heard anything about the americans. obviously the calls by members of the administration as well as other people in washington to arm the ukrainians haven't stopped but we haven't heard from the most important person ultimately the decision president obama. at the same time, we heard from the europeans who brokered this peace deal and said there is no military solution. the question is really now given this seems to be breaking down, what tools in the toolbox of the europeans remain? they ruled out military. diplomatic doesn't seem to be working right now. the question is what can they do of a non-military na

mr. poroshenko and the from the west that, you know even if ukrainians hold this position, they will not use them to bombard donetsk. >> how do you overcome the incredible distrust on all side to say get some sort of diplomatic proposal, some peace deal signed off? >> this will be of course i think the mistrust, the distrust is the main problem because even angela merkel seen as russia's biggest friend was the mortar behind sanctions against russia during the last six months. it was for me, a very sign of trust from putin when he was basically hating to see her in moscow her with mr. hollande and they are looking for ways out of this crisis. i think the main impetus push in russia and european leaders to solving this problem is threat of the further expansion of the conflict. if the united states starts sending lethal aid to the ukrainian government, this is dangerous for russia and europe. you can imagine what happens is ukraine becomes a second afghanistan. >> we'll leave it there the sound is not great. thank you very much for your time. >> much more to come on this news hour, includi

mr. poroshenko for u.n. peacekeepers to be allowed to come in and keep the peace.hat do you think of that as an idea? >> well that idea sounds a bit strange, because there was no reference during the minsk negotiations and no reference in the minsk prodigal or the package of measures agreed therein. >> no but i think the point is it's because the cease-fire wasn't working properly. they need perhaps a stronger body to make sure it holds now. >> well ini believe that the monitors mechanism agreed so far would be sufficient provided both sides stick to the cease-fire and the heavy weapons withdrawal procedures. >> do you believe that the situation is right now for that to be the case? that we can actually see a cease-fire hold now? >> actually, i'm less pessimistic than bbc or many other members of the media, because along most of the line of contact, the cease-fire has been holding. the only exception being debaltseve until yesterday or this morning. >> i suppose a lot of the pessimism -- sorry to interrupt -- >> the debaltseve situation had been -- >> yeah i think

mr. poroshenko would not be on board for more autonomy for the breakaway regions? again, we have only theories not facts. >> that's true. it's absolutely clear what mr. putin wants in reality. he wants which means each region of ukraine will have weaker rights on any decision of central government. so in this kind of realization, ukraine should feed this rebel territories and moscow will control them politically. >> what -- >> directly what mr. putin wants. >> it's interesting that you say that because i'd be interested mr. gould, on what you think the end game is for mr. putin? >> well there is no end game for mr. putin. why all this story with eastern ukraine began, only because mr. putin accepted everything that happened in ukraine as the result of western call. so what we have in donestk and hue hank luhansk is a counter revolution if you like. what mr. putin wants, to have excellent example for any ration citizen, not ukrainian, but russian citizen, you want revolution every revolution is ended with war. at the end of the day, he got what he wanted. >> thank y

mr. poroshenko your cease-fire. any quiet the cease-fire may bring will hollow numb mere hours too late here. >> that was our nick paton walsh reporting. later this hour we will go to another ukrainian city that is braising for what comes late in the conflict. >>> u.s. secretary ban ki-moon is warning that the brink of civil war with rebels tightening their grip on the country at the seize of power back in september. and as the instability grows in that country, most of the country is the closing their embassies due to security fears, listen. >> let me be clear, yemen is collapsing before our eyes. we cannot stand by and watch. >> ban's statement to the security council on thursday came just as al qaeda-linked fighters seized a large army base in yemen which reportedly housed 1,000 troops. the united states is one of those countries suspending its operations at its embassy in yemen. but there are fears that it could undermine counterterrorism suspects there. specifically in the arabian peninsula which calls yemen ho

mr. poroshenko, your cease-fire. any quiet the cease-fire may bring will ring hollow and mere hours too late here. the key question really in the days and hours ahead is a town which ukraine still has thousands of troops in. they say they are firing leaflets and shells over it telling ukrainian troops to surrender. petro poroshenko has already said a town was attacked today and that is cause to doubt the cease-fire. we are already looking at a very precarious potential truce and we aren't even there yet. >> horrible story. nick, thank you so much. appreciate it. >>> in our national lead today, the fbi now looking into the killing of three muslim students considering whether the murders should be classified as a hate crime. this as new video comes to light of one of the victims saying she was blessed to be an american. have police been too quick to label this a parking dispute? that's next. [rob] so we've had a tempur-pedic for awhile, but now that we have the adjustable base, it's even better. [alex] when i put my fe

mr. poroshenko for some kind of cease-fire that is lasting. guy: hans nichols, thank you.orrow. we are going to take a break on "the pulse." for our european audience we will be back after the break. talking to the shadow chancellor of the executive -- chancellor of the checker, ed balls. look for that conversation on bloomberg tv. ♪ >> angela merkel gets quality time at the white house. she says greece must come up with some quality recommendations. greece needs to appease germany. the fed will act -- well, at some point. pandora, they are in court. digital radio is different than regular old radio. good morning, everyone. this is "bloomberg surveillance." it is tuesday, february 10. we need some top headlines. >> president obama said the u.s. may send deadly weapons to ukraine despite operation -- opposition from german chancellor angela merkel. merkel was there at the white house to press a diplomatic solution. four way talks will be held in minsk tomorrow. >> we are in absolute agreement that the 21st century cannot stand idle

mr. poroshenko mentioned earlier this morning was continued violence continued violating the cease-fire. tom: hans, the thrust here is to move 118 miles south to the shores of the see of a thought. that sounds like a major deal. the you in berlin assume that will happen? hans: wow. that is a crucial question and i think you have to get it what mr. putin's real intentions are here. i would not hazard to guess on my. i think we are getting a military strategy now be playing out of my range. brendan: brendan, you have got -- tom: brendan, you have got an opinion. brendan: you and of being on the beat of the vladimir putin watch. what he says seems increasingly disconnected with reality. it is almost less if he is not even pretending like he has anything to do with us anymore. hans: that is one thing that came out of the last minsk agreement that there was at least a command and control link between mr. putin and the rebels. is that command and control link strong enough for him to influence events on the ground and that is what everyone is waiting to see. brendan: let's turn to brussels. gr

mr. poroshenko might be joining them. >> they are still trying to negotiate a peace accord and yet the economy of ukraine needs assistance quite urgently. >> absolutely. we are expecting to hear from the managing director of the imf. she is supposed to give a press conference at 8:00 a.m. london time. we don't know for sure, but it is likely that she going to talk about a new deal for ukraine. ukraine needs about $15 billion of assistance. we heard from the prime minister, saying ukraine has about 48 hours to cut a new deal with the imf. christine lagarde is disposed to doing a deal. there have been lots of talks lots of suggestions that they are getting closer and closer to announcing something. the key will be perhaps not the headline number. are they going to get all they need? but how fast are they going to get that money? >> and the currency has been falling. the world's worst performing currency in 2015 so far. >> it is extoraordinary. down 39% year-to-date. >> the conflict has been going nearly a year now. more than 5000 people have been killed. nearly 13,000 people killed according to

mr. poroshenko of ukraine with introductory comments to the visiting secretary of state of the united statesplain to us the support that secretary kerry has from republicans and never writes as he creates diplomacy. daniel: that is right, there is bipartisan support for helping ukraine. economically comes first, then we make a decision on whether he should be arming them with legal aid. -- lethal aid. bruton it -- putin is betting that nato doesn't exist anymore and he is challenging that. olivia: i'm glad you said that because today what we are going to see his details of these command centers -- in lithuania, poland romania, nothing else could reinforce the dna of what nato is more. does the conversation in washington sound like it is the return of the cold war? daniel: it does. when this started in february people said it is not a cold war could it has been a discussion -- it has been escalating and now you have the discussion of cold war again. brendan: any economic leverage over russia -- are we discovering several months into these sanctions in europe live without russia and russia liv

mr. poroshenko, your cease-fire i welcome.numb and mere hours too late here. >> reporter: here the fear is of course that the guns will not fall silent in about nine hours from now. and we are also seeing it seems intense fire fighting to the northeast. the ukrainians have thousands of troops inside. the separatists say they encircled it and therefore it's their territory. even the kremlin is technically separatist territory in their vision. we have to see if the guns silence at midnight and how long it lasts. >> a powerful piece. thank you. >> let's bring in nicolas burns, the school professor. thanks for being with us. the two sides did not stick to the peace plan. what are your thoughts? >> i think it's hard to believe it's going to hold. you see that the russian military has been violating at least the spirit of the cease-fire over the last 48 hours. you just showed footage of continued shelling. the u.s. government said this morning on twitter that it believes that russian military systems are across the border, aiding an

currently chairman of the advisory council of the reforms for president poroshenko for ukraine. mr.ome. >> thank you for inviting me. >>> who do you think murdered this brave man? >> it's not -- we shouldn't ask who but i think what. i think what murdered him is the system. that was created by putin. this is a system of intimidation, this is a mafia state run by -- hit men are beinglÑdxñ rewarded for all kind of these actions. the general atmosphere that violence is permitted and even encouraged. vladimir putin came with violence. initially he came with war. that's how he did his election campaigns. inside and also outside his borders toward neighbors. that is still continuing to escalate, i'm afraid. >> you just had lunch last week with nemtsov. let me show you a quote from two weeks ago on february 10th. quote, i'm afraid putin will kill me. i believe that he was the one who unleashed the war in the ukraine. i couldn't dislike him more. what did he tell you at that lunch? did he have fear? did he express any sense that he could lose his life in this battle? >> we had a couple of m

and connect poroshenko to pro-russian forces and to mr.sred who is also in russia who russia very much want to see in an important position in kiev and he's a pro-russian ukrainian. >> i want to tell you pavel butting in here that we are getting a report out of minsk that poroshenko now says russian demands are unacceptable. does that mean likely there is likely no deal or still jockeying for position? >> i think it's more jockeying for position. i believe some deal is imminent. right now to kind of continue the filing would mean to introduce mower russian troops, regular troops and if he introduce them without air support, there is going to be heavy losses. though -- and i believe both sides right now are going to be kind of saying that we want to break the deal. maybe there even is going to be some fighting. but this is a kind of middle eastern situation when a ceasefire is inevitable and the fighting is just to find another formula of the ceasefire. and politically it's also very important for pour shaping owe to show that he's ready to

in ukraine, we have an ally in president portion go -- president poroshenko. mr.utin may decide he can attack nato allies in the baltic states. we need to stop mr. putin in ukraine. we can stop him by sending weapons to ukraine and through sanctions. host: our guest is john herbst, who spent more than 30 years as a member of the u.s. foreign service. let's go to lou, joining us from highland park, illinois. ask for being with us. -- thanks for being with us. caller: what is the significance of the pipelines running through ukraine and the price of oil affecting mr. putin's decisions? guest: the pipeline is through ukraine provide a majority of russian gas the goes to europe. they are significant. they have not play too much of a role of the crisis of the last seven months -- less several months. regarding the price of oil, mr. putin's economy relies on hydrocarbons, both oil and gas for well over 50% of exports. the fact that oil has dropped in value by 50% is a devastating blow to russian economy which is based on hydrocarbons. this will limit his foreign-policy

mr. putin is trying to redraw the boundaries of europe by force. do you agree with that? >> president poroshenko of ukraine has announced that he will pull all the military armament and his forces and therefore deploy russians and the russian side shall pour out. the agreement of just a few days ago is a matter of integrity. >> woodruff: excuse me, but that doesn't look like it's happening. >> i'm urging as secretary general of the united nations to abide strictly by this agreement. united nations has made clear that the united nations will do all to provide the humanitarian assistance to those who have been affected and also continue the human rights mission there. >> woodruff: but again, so many challenges facing the united nations. two of your former predecessors as secretary general have issued a letter saying that they feel strongly the united nations needs to be reconfigured, it needs to be reformed in a way that the city council doesn't have the veto system that it does now, that it's more transparent more democratic that the u.n. isn't respected anymore by the people fighting on the grou

mr. obama reaffirms u.s. support for ukrainian sovereignty and warned putin that the costs will rise if russia continues to send troops, supporting rebels. president obama also spoke with the president of ukraine portugal -- poroshenkoand anthony nodo at his account hacked, and he was sending tweets. and they also hacked a page of delta airlines, and they the white house is creating a new agency whose mission is to stop cyber attacks and improve information sharing about those attacks. they will collect that information from various government departments involved in cyber security including homeland security and the justice department. this follows the hacking of sony pictures and anthem among others. the former director of the counterterrorism center and the chief security officer with the fbi -- formally with the fbi. do we need another bureaucratic agency looking at this? rex if you put another layer into this area, you are creating this area. this was described as the coordination of intelligence. i think there is some value. there are multiple centers where there is a lot of coordination happening. the facts are in the details. this is exactly how to be utilized. collects at the described, over things giving,

mr. obama reaffirmed u.s. support for ukrainian sovereignty and warned putin that the costs will rise if russia continues to send troops and weapons supporting rebels. president obama also spoke with the president of ukraine poroshenkoand twitter cfo anthony noto had his account hacked, and he was sending spam tweets. hackers also hit the page of delta airlines, and they said they have removed the objectionable content and are investigating the source of the hack. the white house is creating a new agency whose mission is to stop cyber attacks and improve information sharing about those attacks. the cyber threat intelligence integration center will collect that information from various government departments involved in cyber security including homeland security and the justice department. this follows the hacking of sony pictures and anthem among others. will it work? joining us via skype, micheal leider, former director of the u.s. national counterterrorism center and the crowdstrike chief security officer shawn henry formerly with the fbi. do we need another bureaucratic agency looking at this? >> if you put another layer into this area, you are creating this -- creating some problems. if this was described as the

mr. putin will see that he has a big problem down the line and under the auspices of the german and french to agree with poroshenko to discount it a bit because he's not adhered to you but he wouldn't be there, they wouldn't be there if there wasn't any hope. >> paratroopers on the ground. is that the wise thing? >> i think it's a very wise thing. it's not a new thing. when i was in ukraine, there were military formations, u.s. military formations training with ukrainians. this is not new. as you said, general hodges indicates they are hoping to -- one of the things that they are hoping to train the ukrainians on is how to defend themselves against artillery. now, the best defenses is to fire back at the artillery shooting at you and the best way to fire back at artillery is to have very precise weapons to fire back at the russian military. >> did a bunch of reading on this region and it looks to me like there are small villages of 3, 400 people where they don't have anything left. there's no food or water or electricity. there's no jobs. it sounds as if there's about to be a real catastrophe there. >> shep you're

following successful negotiations between vladimir putin, petro poroshenko and angela merkel where a cease fire has been agreed. live pictures of mr. putin leaving a recent press conference. those pictures are losing a slight feed but of course as we told you just earlier that a cease fire has been agreed. putin's latest flashes at the end of the press conference he was saying the leaders have called for restraint in a period before the cease fire comes into play and also reporting the separatist rebels have been calling for the surrounded ukrainian forces to surrender. there's still some ways to go before it's implemented but a big development that he is saying we have reached. >> interestingly enough two days ago president obama called russian president vladimir putin warning him that further actions would be feed in terms of finding a negotiation and if he does not want the u.s. to play a stronger role or bigger role in terms of military support in the russian-ukraine war but clearly here negotiations coming out at this point successful between russian president vladimir putin and various leaders meeting around the ukraine ceas

mr. hollande are on their way to brussels for an eu summit. they'll no doubt be outlining the terms of the deals to their eu colleagues there. our petrov poroshenkoso be traveling to brussels. he may be glad he does as well. my colleague, philippa thomas is in brussels. what would amount to a major financial boost to ukraine? >> reporter: a possible lifeline. early this morning in brussels, the imf, christine lagarde, announced a new package that is worth in all some $40 billion over four years, from the imf. it's $17.5 billion loan. now, she's announced this because ukraine's economy is really struggling. its currency has nosenose-dived. the production of coal has slumped. and the fight over debaltseve is not helping matters, because that is the rail hub where coal from the east gets out. a real problem. ukraine, in a nutshell needs a lot of cash and needs it quickly, hence christine lagarde made this announcement. she said there would have to be those continuing reforms. a lot of pressure now on the ukrainian government to continue those reforms. let's hear a little of what she had to say. >> they have agreed to continue the energy price increa

poroshenko says he's ready to introduce martial law throughout the country. as the crisis in ukraine continues to spiral out of control, president obama has yet to lay down a red line. mr what action on russia's part will convince him to arm the ukrainian military. the president did say western leaders cannot allow the borders of europe to be redrawn at the barrel of a gun. the kremlin told a reuters radio station that "nobody has ever talked to the president in the tone of an ultimateum and couldn't do so even if they wanted to." with me is liz walsh who quit her job at the russia funded network saying the company whitewashes vladimir putin's actions. president putin is flying to minsk to take part in these talks. do you think that he will bend? >> well it is hard to say based on what we've seen of his behavior so far. sanction after sanction. doesn't seem to have deterred his actions in ukraine especially the violence there only escalating. the attempt at a peace deal in september didn't hold. unfortunately this is seen as a last ditch effort. based on the rhetoric that you just heard from russian leaders there, it seems unfortunately the possibility is always there