says het poroshenko will declare a day of silence tomorrow, regardless of what happens in the talks.e hope that happens. there has been too much violence and suffering because of russia's actions. >> russia is facing sanctions from the west and oil prices are plunging. is there an incentive for vladimir putin to make peace in the ukraine? >> we hope so. this is about providing incentives for russia to change its strategic calculus. it lies in the full implementation of the minsk agreements, which lies in a russian acknowledgment of ukrainian territorial integrity and a russian acknowledgment of the democratically elected ukrainian government and its decision to move toward a more just and european society. >> it has been an eventful 18 months for you as ambassador to the you -- to the ukraine. you say you remain hopeful. why? theecause i have seen ukrainian people, the unity of ukrainian society. there has been a false narrative of civil war propagated by moscow. what i have seen is a ukraine that is much more united than ever before. they are fighting corruption, which was bequeathe

this is a prop bega propaganda coup for petro poroshenko. >> i'm telling you that i as a president and odometer system has a heart that is happy to greet the new year. together with your families and your military brothers you will do what we've been waiting for, for so long. we're grateful again that we have you. >> there is relief but also sadness about those still being held. >> it is bles pleasant that the president met us. thank you for what you've done to release us. we hope our friends who are still being held as hostages will be released in the near future. >> this is where the exchange took place, in a secret place in the donetsk region. some prisoners are injured and have to be carried to freedom. others watch on. they know that this is still a fragile cease-fire. >> there are still many who are missing. they're on the way and we'll complete the exchange tomorrow. >> kiev said its fighting against what it calls russia's influence. moscow has always denied backing and arming the separatists, who still control parts of eastern ukraine. the russian president recently signed a ne

president petro poroshenko says a "real cease-fire" is in place. a good by russia's -- echoed by russia's foreign minister. sergei lavrov has reiterated calls for peace talks. >> petro poroshenko was unusually optimistic, giving rise to hope that the cease-fire might hold. >> today is the first 24 hours for seven months when we do not have, when we had a real cease-fire in ukraine. you cannot imagine how important it is for me. this is the first time i do not have lives lovst or eight wounded ukrainian soldier. and we do not have any lost or wounded citizens. >> thursday, rebels had withdrawn weaponry from the frontlines, part of a truce. >> once the people's republic is ready to further such acts to bring peace local people -- [indiscernible] >> elsewhere, the cease-fire is looking shaky. at donetsk airport, there were bursts of gunfire. with each side pointing the finger at the other. >> the enemy tried to provoke us, firing at opposition. i did not give the order to fire back. they ended up coming down. >> ukraine and the last blame russia for s

ukraine's parliament approved all the lineup proposed by poroshenko and the ruling coalition. prime minister arseniy yatsenyuk will retain his post. georgia's alexander tash villi was named health minister and the new finance minister is a u.s. national with state department experience. ukraine's conflict with russia has hit its economy hard. the international monetary fund has offered an aid package but ukraine's leaders have to carry out economic reforms to secure it. >>> the president of kenya is calling on everyone in his country to help fight terrorism, even as some citizens raise more questions about his ability to do that. islamist fighters with the al shabab group killed at least 36 workers at a quarry in the northeast. the massacre happened on the outskirts of mandera, a town near somalia where the militants are based. the gunmen reportedly singled out non-muslims before they shot them. alhabab claimed responsibility and said the attack was in response to military operations by kenyan troops in somalia. president kenyatta has shaken up his top security team in the wak

so poroshenko lay flower and they start screaming so biden decided not to go. it was -- like -- it was very kind of simple story, happened, there's nothing to do with biden at all. and the people were there just the poor people who lost their loved ones, right? so, first story coming from washington, i see is from politico. mitco put russia today story on their website and wrote an article and said, vice president biden dodged mobs in -- angry mobs in ukraine. where did they get it from? did they at least research what really happened? spent five minutes checking the information? no. the's easy to take something from russia today abruptly, put it on their website and we are reading it. and repeating, repeating the lies. i thought maybe 10 or 20 articles -- similar articles around in western media. we have to be very, very careful what we are here putting on and not be -- >> peter, this is what you address in your report. could you maybe distill for us, give us the "reader's digest" version, how do we, on the one hand, maintain our traditions of free speech, fir

president poroshenko is oriented towards settlement. but concrete actions and steps are needed. our representatives in minsk signed a memorandum in september and there were protocols to it that defined the disengagement line. representatives of donetsk didn't sign those protocols. that's the problem. they said at the very start, we can't. when we tried to insist, i'll be frank with you about this, since the public needs to know these things, they told us that they can't leave these villages. their families live there, and they can't risk their children, wives and sisters being killed or raped. however, the ukrainian officials did not withdraw their troops from the areas that they were supposed to leave, such as the donetsk airport, either. they're staying there. are you aware of the latest developments? the militia allowed them to rotate their troops at the airport. they took them to a bathhouse and sent them food. but this is a positive development. everyone is insisting on exchanging prisoners of war. i believe that they should all be exchanged unconditionally. but life is mor

flowers nor fallen and there were victims of people who died, and they were upset with poroshenko. we didn't do enough for them so they were just upset. so he laid flower and they start screaming. so biden decided not to go. and it was -- it's very kind of simple story, happened, nothing to do with biden at all, and the people were there just to -- just the poor people who lost their loved ones. right? so story coming from washington, i see is from political. political put russia today and end up with story on their web site and wrote an article and said, why is vice president biden dodge mobs in -- angry mobs in ukraine. where did they get it from? did they at least research what is really happened? spend five minutes checking the information? no. it's easy to take something from russia today, put it on their web site and we are reading it, and repeating it, repeating the lies. i mean, for some -- i thought maybe ten or 20 articles similar articles around in western media. we have to be very, very careful what we are here putting on and not these -- >> you address in your report.

president poroshenko head a free trade zone in the donbass region. while ukraine moves ahead on the your e european choice so that company this is the donbass region would be able to provide a bridging role between the european space, the largest space in the world and the eurasian space. that kind of win-win calculation has been absent from the kind of language from moscow. we hope we can get to that point. >> terrific discussion. thank you for coming. [ applause ] >> if you missed any of the ambassador's comments you can see them at c-span.org. m.i.t. economist jonathan gruber served as an adviser for the massachusetts and national health care bills. he'll testify tomorrow before the house oversight committee for his public criticism of the obama administration's roll out of the law saying administration officials intentionally obscured details to enable passage by congress in 2010. also testimony from centers more medicaid and medicare services marilyn tave ner on c-span3. later secretary of state john kerry testifies before the senate foreign rel

. >> ukraine's president, petro poroshenko has shaken hands of soldiers who have been released by easternaratists. they were thought to be separatist prisoners. a report. >> in a military air field near kiev, the ukrainian president welcomes home these prisoners of war. they were exchanged with hundreds of pro-russian fighters. this is a propagandaa coup for petro poroshenko, a leader who is struggling to go unite a divided country. >> i am telling you that i, as a president and an ordinary citizen, have a heart full of happiness that you willget the new year as i promised, together with your families and military brothers, that you will do what we have been waiting for, for so long. we are thankful again that we have you. >> reporter: there is relief but, also, sadness about those still being held. >> thanks for what you have done to release us. we hope our friends still being kept as hostages will be released in the near future. >> this is where the exchange took place: in a secret location in the donetsk region. some of the prisoners are injured and have to be carried to freedom. there

this is a propaganda coup for president poroshenko, a president trying to help his divided country. >> i'm telling you that i as president and an order citizen is happy that you will do what we've been waiting for, for so long. we're thankful again that we have you. >> there is relief but also sadness about those still being held. it's not known exactly how many prisoners there are. the you cranes military said around 600 ukrainians are in separatist hands. >> thanks for what you've done to release us. we're hoping that our friends who are still kept as hostages will be released in the near future. >> moscow has backed and arming the rebels in rue crane. they've cited a new military doctrine, naming extension in risks. there is a source of deep anger in kiev. ukraine rail company stopped rails citing security issues. >> video has been released of a police raid on an u.s. funded radio station in azzu azerbajan. the u.s. aid department said that it's deeply disturbed. >>> no. mexico hundreds of protesters attacked an army base in th in the city where 43 students disappeared three months

a way forward if, indeed, there could be some kind of afford principally done between president poroshenkocalled rebels or terrorists or freedom fighters, whatever you want to call them in eastern, ukraine and if poroshenko said we could endorse that, then the west can endorse it. the key is the ukrainians. has to be a deal kiev approves not a deal putin and obama cut. >> it gave him padding in terms of how much he can bear. he can afford to take over crimea and host the olympics and whatever else he wanted to do. now that he doesn't have any money to spend and they are feeling this crunch and what's happening with their currency, what does that do to his leeway, his options for keeping the russian public happy for him and buoying himself politically at home? >> i think he has a problem. opinion polls say he's at 80%. remember, he controls all television stations. major television stations. he controls the congress. there's no opposition leader. that number is soft. people are beginning to wonder about his course. you see it in polls. i feel it in talking to my friends in russia. he said i

president poroshenko head a free trade zone in the donbass region. while ukraine moves ahead on the european choice so that company this is the donbass region would be able to provide a bridging role between the european space, the largest space in the world and the eurasian space. that kind of win-win calculation has been absent from the kind of language from moscow. we hope we can get to that point. >> terrific discussion. thank you for coming. [applause] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated. c-span, house members debate a bill to provide water for california. and the world bank president talks about climate change priorities. week'sdiscussion on this congressional agenda and a approaching federal deadline. >> secretary of state john kerry testifies on tuesday about combating ices and possible new authorization for the use of military force. you con

president poroshenko would congratulate service men on armed forces day. >> the preliminary agreement has been reached so far that the meeting in minsk will be held. they'll confirm a plan and schedule of realization and implementation of a minsk agreement. that means that it should start december 9th. >> ending the fighting in ukraine's east was also on the endfor french president holland. he is on his way to russia for crisis talks with vladimir putin. he hopes to stop a new east-we shall division rising in europe. >>> the state of crisis has been declared i because of lack of drinking water. it comes after of a desalination plant on thursday. governments have been accepting water to the country. it could be another two days before the desalination plant is brought online. we have this update from the capitol male. >> on every street corner there are hundreds of people lining up to get three liters of drinking water, which the government has provided for them, or her here to get water for cooking and drinking. people are saying they're getting enough water. earlier there were proble

this is a coup for petro poroshenko a leaders who struggles to unite his country. >> i tell you that as an ordinary citizen have a heart full of happiness that you will greet the new year, and i promise that you will do what we've been waiting for for so long. we're thankful again that we have you. >> reporter: there is relief but also sadness about those still being held. >> translator: it is pleasant that the president matters. we hope our friends still being kept as hostages are going to be released in the near future. >> a secret location in the donetsk region, some of the prisoners are injured and have to be carried to freedom. there are international observers and ukrainian separatists. >> from the luhansk region, have not arrived yet but we will complete the are exchange tomorrow. >> kiev says it is fighting against what it calls russia's influence. russia has always denied backing and arming the separatists. the russian president recently signed a military document, and the latest twist in this criers iscrisisblaming security concerns, leaving many passengers strand he and fr

he met with the prime minister and president petro poroshenko. >> after the talks, he called for more action to end conflict in the country posses and called for pushing harsher sanctions against moscow. the visit follows the news that five ukrainian soldiers have been killed in clashes with separatists in the east. >> lots of breaking news today. stay with us. when we come back, we'll have the rest of the day's news. >> stay with us. >> welcome back, everyone. a horrific story coming out of australia -- eight children have been found dead in a home. the mother of at least seven of the children survived the incident and has several staff wounds -- stab wounds. >> police have not made any arrests are identified any suspects in the attack. the prime minister called the killings heartbreaking. >> residents in this suburb are shocked. eight children were found dead inside this house, aged between 18 months and 15 years. a woman was taken to the hospital with stab. she's the mother of seven of the children. >> i'm really shocked, too. yeah. because, you know, i just saw her this morning. r

this is a propaganda coup for petro poroshenko, a leader struggling to unite his divided country. >> i'm telling you that i, as a president, as an ordinary citizen, have a heart for you as we greet the new year, and i promise that we'll do what we've been waiting for for so long. we're thankful again that we have you. >> there is relief that also sadness about those still being held. >> it is present that a president matters. thank you for what you've done to release us. we hope that our friends are still being kept as hostages will be released in the near future. >> this is where the exchange took place. in a secret location in the donetsk region. some of the prisoners are injured and have to be carried to freedom. there are international observers, armed separatists and ukrainian soldiers who also watch on. they know that this is still a fragile cease-fire. >> there are several people on the list who are missing. they're from the luhansk region, they have not arrived yet, but we'll wait to complete the exchange tomorrow. >> kiev says its fighting against what it calls russia's infl

president poroshenko of ukraine wants to resolve this crisis. i think that was a more positive message than we've heard of late on the ukraine. the talk of a prisoner swap, again, something that means there will be more negotiations, more discussions, and hopefully that leads us down the road to a de-escalation. what i think will be interesting as we over the next few hours really let these comments sink in is just how the americans and the europeans respond to what they've heard here. we know president obama has a third round of sanctions bills which he can ink which will allow lethal aid to be provided to the ukrainian government and the europeans have talked about another round of actions with regard to crimea. so, seema, i don't want to sound too excited because as always, with mr. putin, you have to look at the shades of gray here. but it does seem to me he's trying to strike a more constellatory tone over ukraine than we've heard of late. back to you. >> geoff, thank you so much. let's talk to alexander bran, director of prosperity capital

in a political solution to scale back the crisis in ukraine and he intends to speak with petro poroshenko in the next few days. geoff cutmore here in moscow. >> vivid imagery from mr. putin indeed and in the meantime today, general motors announced it's slamming the brakes on deliveries to new car dealers in russia, because the ruble there fallen so hard so quickly that auto prices in the country are skyrocketing. >>> well, moving now to the latest in cuba after yesterday's stunner that the u.s. and cuba will normalize diplomatic relations and permit freer travel and trade. now both big and small businesses from the u.s. and inside cuba are gearing up to compete in a whole new economic marketplace. michelle caruso-cabrera is in havana. >> reporter: here in cuba, a muted reaction to the announcement made simultaneously by president obama in u.s. and the leader, raul castro. here we won't see major rallies where thousands bust in across the country. the city center, listened to hours worth of speeches, something perhaps would have seen in the past. but we did see last night, a small celebra

wanted to be part of the negotiations for a resolution and he said he would be speaking with petro poroshenko, the ukrainian president, over the next few days on video conference. so that was taken, i think, as broadly positive in terms of trying to de-escalate the current crisis over ukraine. of course, president obama has a fresh set of sanctions sat on his desk, ready to be signed, should the white house decide that they still don't think moscow and president putin are giving enough at this point. but we continue to listen in to the president's speech and if there is anything fresh that we need to bring you, we'll do that. back to you. >> cnbc's jeff cutmore live for us in russia. thank you. this is a rolling live, four-hour press conference as jeff points out. we'll be turning sound this morning for you from the questions he's taking from an international audience of journalists. >>> we have your nba highlights for you including an triple overtime for the grizzlies and spurs. we'll let you know who pulled out a win. and actor stephen collins admitting to sexual misconduct with three women

petro poroshenko says the meeting is set to take place in minutminsk on tuesday.s optimistic that both sides will agree on how to implement a peace deal that was reached in minsk in september. mean while, the crisis in eastern ukraine was discussed during a meeting between the fence president and russian president vladimir putin. orland made an impromptu visit in moscow on saturday. now, he is the first western leader to meet with putin in russia since moscow annexed the crimea peninsula in march. >>> in greece, protesters have fought with police in central athens. the clashes occurred after demonstrations marking the anniversary of a fatal police shooting of an unarmed teenager. at least 6,000 people took part in the march fo for the person o was shot dead in 2008. after confrontation in place. his death caused some of the worst riots in the country in decades. >>> u.s. president barack obama has co con condemned the killino hostages. calling them barbaric murderers. a south african teache teacher n american journalist were shot dead during a rescue operation. it

president poroshenko in putting this coalition agreement together was inspired by the example of some his peers, other european leaders who suggested to him this kind of a road map would be helpful when it came time to get to the practical task of implementing reforms. it gives reason for optimism that this won't just be a document that sits on the shelf but turn into a practical road map for implementation of a reform agenda entailing changes in sectors like energy, justice and security. it's a robust document and a document that all of the parties take pride in. i think that's worth taking note of. how to move ahead on implementation. i would argue is something that only the ukrainians themselves can decide. it is not the position of anybody in the international community to say which element of this multi faceted reform agenda needs to come first. that said, let me suggest areas i believe will be critically important to the success of ukraine's democratic reform. fist and foremost i would point to energy. there is no sector more in need of reform or more central to the fate of ukra

i think it has to be taken much more seriously, particularly when putin says to poroshenko, barroso, i could be in kiev, riga, or warsaw in two hours. >> let's divide ukraine in half. >> or the secret protocols with dividing europe. the response to the question about the baltics, that's what would make me nervous is putin's talk like that. again, we tend to say that's putin being putin. putin is a liar and denying the russian forces were in crimea, then he admitted he lie. but there are certain things we should pay serious attention to and attention of the people under him. it's a pretty -- if dempsey said that about russia, he'd be fired. and he should be fired. i'm not saying dempsey should be fired. don't get me wrong. >> well, on that note, i think we have to go to coffee break. thank you all so much. this was excellent. we could have gone on much longer. [ applause ] >>> back on capitol hill, we're covering a senate judiciary committee here today on c-span3 looking into sports blackouts and antitrust exemptions. the committee in a break for a series of votes on the senate floor.

is holding in ukraine after what president poroshenko called the first full day of peace since may.mes at a time when the european union is considering tighter sanctions against russia. states like estonia have expressed concern over folder ability. chris regan spoke with estonia's prime minister. smoke with regan estonia's prime minister. >> he is only 35 years old and married to a pop star. he is the youngest eu prime minister. we talk a lot about russia. that is a concern in the region. he talked about the fact that estonia is part of nato and he does not need to be concerned in the way that ukraine would be. something i found incredibly interesting was the cyber digital identity that all of the residence in estonia have. do you know that one third of the people in estonia vote online? they do their taxes online. everything is done online there. everybody has a digital , which is kind of remarkable. we have talked in this country about having a digital id or digital id cards. they have actually done it. there are fewer people there, so it is a little easier, but they are known as

president poroshenko is oriented towards settlement. but concrete actions and steps are needed.our representatives in minsk signed a memorandum in september and there were protocols to it that defined the disengagement line. representatives of donetsk didn't sign those protocols. that's the problem. they said at the very start, we can't. when we tried to insist, i'll be frank with you about this, since the public needs to know these things, they told us that they can't leave these villages. their families live there, and they can't risk their children, wives and sisters being killed or raped. however, the ukrainian officials did not withdraw their troops from the areas that they were supposed to leave, such as the donetsk airport, either. they're staying there. are you aware of the latest developments? the militia allowed them to rotate their troops at the airport. they took them to a bathhouse and sent them food. but this is a positive development. everyone is insisting on exchanging prisoners of war. i believe that they should all be exchanged unconditionally. but life is more

president poroshenko spoke out about the need for a lasting cease-fire.sivelyt important to have a sustainable cease-fire. we have a strong guarantee from the russian general that the .ease-fire will take place unfortunately, we have several theccessful attempts when russian and pro-russian rebels have promised to keep the cease-fire. >> joining us is ryan chilcote. i've kind of been desensitized to the word cease-fire over the last year or so, with good reason. >> you heard the ukrainian president being tentative. it is significant in the sense that this could be a positive. you think about this coupled with the fact that russians resume gas supplies to ukraine yesterday, that is good news. it is not a simple relationship. we have another one of these cold war style incidents where you had a couple of f-16s rounding up russian fighter jets in international airspace. that is not good. that is that between the german west wasr who said the contingent name in shame russia, and you had the russian foreign minister effectively directly criticizing the german

this is a propaganda crew for t petro poroshenko struggletology unite his country. >> i am telling youhat i, as a president, as an ordinary citizen, have a heart full of happiness that you will greet the new year, as i promised, together with your families and military brothers, that you will do what we have been waiting for, for so long. we are thankful again that we have you. >> reporter: there is relief but, also, sadness about those still being held. it's not known exactly how many prisoners there are, but ukraine's military says around 600 ukrainians are separatists hands. >> thanks for what you have done to release us. we hope our that are still being kept as hostages will be released in the near future. >> reporter: more than 4 and a half thousand people have died in this conflict. this is a fragile cease fire. kiev said it's fighting against what it calls russia's influence. moscow has always denied backing and arming the rebels who still control parts of eastern ukraine. the russian president recently signed a new military doctorine naming nato expansion among key external ris

it's part of poroshenko's plan to stop an uprising in the east. than 4700 people have been killed in the conflict since russia annexed crimea back in march. meanwhile, the president listed the u.s. and nato as top military tlets. russia is in the middle of a stand off with the west. we have more from moss cow, including what this could mean for peace talks. >> reporter: well, russian security analysts say they see this as the kremlin's response to western sanctions and political statements on the situation in ukraine. while calling it defensive in nature, the now doctrine identifies nato expansion and western military activity on russia's doorstep as areas of deep concern. in previous doctrines, the focus had been the situation unfolding in central asia. analysts tell me the kremlin is essentially signaling that russia's response to nato and europe will be an area of primary concern in its long term planning, which will include the military build up along russia's western border. now, nato issued a response saying that nato poses no threat to russ

the swap is part of ukrainian president petro poroshenko's plans to end the pro-russian uprising in the east. more than 4700 people have been killed in the conflict since russia and neched crimea from ukraine back in march. expanded u.s. sanctions over that annexation force mastercard and visa to stop service in crimea, according to russian news agency tas. tas says the companies informed banks they can't process any more credit card transactions. earlier this month, the u.s. imposed a ban on doing business in in crimea. >>> russia's economic issues and the conflict in ukraine do not appear to be a threat to vladimir putin's popularity. the country's independence polling agency says mr. putin's approval rating is at 85% in december. meantime, mr. putin signed a new doctrine on friday listing the u.s. and nato as top military threats to his country. erin mclaughlin has more for us from moscow. >> russian security analysts tell me they see this new doctrine as the kremlin's response to western sanctions and political statements on the situation in ukraine. and while calling it defensive i

a few hundred prisoners were exchanges between the two sides part of petro poroshenko's plan to end a pro-russian uprising in the east we have been covering here for months now. more than 4700 people have been killed in the conflict. meantime, the russian president signed a doctrine on friday calling the u.s. and nato top military threats. russia is in the middle of a standoff with the west over ukraine. erin mclaughlin has more from moscow including what this doctrine could mean for peace talks. >> russian security analysts tell me that they see this in new doctrine as the kremlin's response to western sanctions and political statements on the situations in ukraine and while calling it defensive in nature, the new doctrine identifies nato expansion and western military activities on russia's doorstep as areas of deep concern. in previous doctrines, the focus had been the situation unfolding in central asia, but analysts tell me that the kremlin is essentially signaling that russia's response 0 to nato and europe will be an area of primary concern in its long-term planning which will

i mean, look, the ukrainians back in may i visited ukraine, visited with president poroshenko. we became editors of the joint session of congress, gave an incredible speech must have gotten 20 or 30 standing ovation from virtually every member of congress, republicans and democrats, house and senate. i think the most powerful on president poroshenko said is you cannot fight a war with like it's alone. we appreciate the blankets but the ukrainians are defending themselves with hunting rifles against russian tanks. and this doesn't make any sense to the people of ukraine, they want to be with the west. they want to be with europe. they want to be with america. they are fighting to defend their own nation and not asking us to put americans in harm's way, but at a very minimum we ought to alter our treaty obligations and how provide them with the military aid so they can defend themselves. and the administration's response to this is incoherent. >> one more intimate to take a few questions. the country is not asking for americans to put boots on the ground august of israel. you've

poroshenko seems to have agreed to that. he spoke again -- speaking to the congress in september, he said, in fact, he listed what he called the sins of the ukrainian elite, corruption, bureaucracy and cynicism. so some tough love along with assistance? >> absolutely. and, you know, we certainly believe, and i think the broad majority of ukrainians believe that if ukraine does not beat corruption this time, if it does not create a clean transparent democratic country, than it will once again blow its chance. and that is what -- was about many things but it was certainly about the ukrainian people being sick of being ripped off by their leaders, by oligarchs, by a nontransparent system. they want opportunity, they want a free market economy, they want to know where the money is going, they don't want a small handful of kleptocrats running that country anymore. that's what the current leadership was elected on. that's what the government has committed to. there is a lot of good detail in the government's program, now they have

together with petro poroshenko, without a doubt, the president of the ukraine wants to achieve resolution of this crisis. it leads to a continental crisis , we hear many statements. but he wants a peaceful settlement. arrangements have to be put in place. i was one of those that initiated those arrangements. i would say something to you. our representatives signed a memorandum back in september. memorandum, it was protocols. protocols were established. when we tried to insist and be frank, we were open about that. these things have to be known to the audience. us that theyd to would not leave those contested villages because their families, their wives, their brothers and sisters. they did not want them to get raped or killed. that was the greatest challenge. troopsy withdrew their from the points they have to leave. i am aware of the recent developments. armedlitia took those forces. they provided them with food. the even let them maintain their rotation mechanism. i believe the hostages, the prisoner of war should be exchanged. a ukrainian authority is said to --e been detained [indisce

ukrainian president poroshenko said that peace talks aimed at resolving the crisis will resume.ld a conversation with vladimir putin, angela merkel and francois hollande. they will meet in minsk tomorrow nd again on december 26. the latest in protests taking lace in dresden. e group was called patriotic europeans. that is largest gathering since october. some also nauched a counterprotest against group. let's go to berlin. hans nichols joins us from there. there does seem to be some momentum behind this story. >> yes. there is momentum. it caused a great deal of hammering in the press here. just two weeks ago, 10,000 protesters gathered and last week monday, it was 15,000 and last night it was 17,500. the group claims they are just by the islamicification u.s. that they are not nazi. their critics question that. what they say they are doing is gathering there to sing christmas songs. they will admit to being concerned about the number of refugees coming into germany. this year they depopt have 200,000 refugees asylum see,, up 60% from last year. last year there was 127,000 and t

it's willing to be involved in negotiations that are political and he is set to talk to petro poroshenkorainian president, over the next two days, so we might actually start to see some light at the end of the tunnel. you might ask yourself why it's come to this now and why president obama putin may seem more conciliatory. that picks up the point of your question. the economy is really not in good shape now. this rapid decline we've seen in the ruble, a long side oil prices, is beginning to bite. the president said it may take two years before the russian economy really starts to grow again. he did, though say he supported the action of the central bank here. which has hiked interest rates to 17% and the finance ministry which has now pumped $7 million into defending the russian ruble. a punchy performance from the president but it looks like we could get some progress after all this on ukraine. we can hope. >>> up next a look at the past to help guide the future. we'll take you back to cuba in the 1960s with an nbc news historian. and we'll explain where we've been and where we might be

mostasng antidote toepatism a tsidinrference in the meumerm is fkrne to beat back corrtion, and poroshenko seems to have areed to that. hepo again speing t to the congss in september, he said, fact, he listed what he ll t sins ofhe raian ite; corruption, bureaucra andynism. so some tou love along with assistance >> absolutely. and, y know, we certainly believe and tnkhe broad joty of rainia believe thatf uai does not beat corruption thi time, if itoe not crea aclean,transparen decratic cotr tn wl oncega blow its chance, and, yo know, that is what -- the maonwas aboutmany things, t was certaly about t ukrainia ople beingsiof being runed of by tir leads -- ripped off by their leaders, by oligahs by a nontrapant system. they wanoprtit they wan to know where e moneys gog,hey want a free mket onomy. they don'tan a small hanul of excellentacrates nng that -- colu to accute anyme. that's what thatovernment was elteon, and tat's what the government has commied to. ere is lot of god detail in th government'srogram now they're gog toavto le i weetarting to see good prress i placei kie cityhe mayorli

. >> ukraine's president is urging russia to withdraw its troops, petro poroshenko saying it's the only way to bring peace to the region. the separatists in donetsk are backing off. a ceasefire appears to have held there. it's unclear if peace talks will be held next week. >> police are clearing the streets this morning in hong kong. >> that is what it looked like del, earlier home run month. all of that has come to an end as police unceremoniously dismantled the protestors main camp near the city's financial district. this is a live look at what's happening on one of the main streets of hong kong right now. those who refuse to leave are in many cases being arrested. sarah clark is there. >> they have forcibly removed remaining protestors taking part in a peaceful sit in. there were 100 ahead of me. this includes legislators arrested, taken away one by one, put on a police bus and removed. we've seen the last lot of protestors, about 600 protestors left this area once it was declared illegal. once they left, details were taken, they were recorded by police and they may be charged down t

president says it's a milestone, 24 hours with no casualties in the eastern part of the country, petro poroshenkoaying it's the first time in seven months that a real ceasefire is in effect. it's not clear if peace talks will begin next week. last week, six were killed in donetsk. >> a former satisfactory jet leader is criticizing the u.s. in an interview with time magazine, gorbachev blaming the u.s. for provoking a new cold war. he backed president vladimir putin's actions in ukraine, saying he was working in the interests of the majority. >> a former state department official saying governments around the world should step in and hold russia accountable, c.i.a. countries should intervene even without proper legalization. >> if russia can invade ukraine and nothing happens, next thing, another country will in void another country with that rules are critical to upholding international order. that said, we have a global system that was designed after world war ii to privilege the five victors of world war ii, russia, china, france, britain and the united states. my pop significance is we need to

president poroshenko head a free trade zone in the donbass region. while ukraine moves ahead on the european choice, so that company this is the donbass region would be able to provide a bridging role between the european space, the largest space in the world and the eurasian space. that kind of win-win calculation has been absent from the kind of language from moscow. we hope we can get to that point. >> terrific discussion. thank you for coming. [ applause ] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] >> last week, john kerry warned senate intelligence committee chair dianne feinstein that the relays -- that the release of cia interrogation tactics could put americans in danger overseas. he asked adequate time be provided before the report's release. senator feinstein will talk about the report around 11:00 a.m. eastern. we will have that live on c-span 2. >> here are comments we have received from vi

i'm intrigued by the proposals president poroshenko has made for a free-trade zone in the donbass region. while ukraine moves ahead on the european choice so that company european choice so that companies in the donbass region would be able to provide a bridging role between the european space, the largest space in the world, and the eurasian space. that kind of win-win calculus has been absent from the kind of language from moscow. we hope we can get to that point. >> jeff, thank you very much. a terrific discussion. thank you all for coming. [ applause ]. >> ladies and gentlemen, please remain seated while the ambassador exits the room. thank you. >>> join us in about 45 minutes for remarks from incoming virginia congress dave brat who ousted eric cantor in the republican primary earlier this year. he'll be speaking at the clare booth policy institute. noon eastern time on c-span3. >>> lateritis a look at smart technology and the internet coming up live at 1:30 p.m. eastern from the center for strategic and international studies. it's also here on c-span3. >>> and the senate is in busi

and not many people are aware that in ukraine, fo poroshenko,n ukraine, a political party cannot have a seat in parliament unless they get 5% of the -- of the vote and the vote was taking place a week before our vote. well, this will be the first year, the first time in 96 years that the communist party will not have one seat in parliament. now, that's amazing. and, you know, we have to understand what is happening with -- with putin. i also went over toe lithuania. lithuania, estonia and latvia and those areas in the baltics. that's another problem that we have. and they want to give us the assurance it's not just putin over there in ukraine but they're becoming aggressive. i coin the term what putin is trying to do is de-reaganize europe and to take out all the freedoms that was there and try to put the old coalition together. so anyway, it's a huge thing and that's addressed in this bill in a very aggressive way with the reassurance initiative. so -- and also the -- we would not have, if we don't pass this bill, the counterterrorism partnership fund, which i think we're all aware o